Digimon World Adventure: 01
by Leonardo Regulus
Summary: A young boy named Akira wakes up to find he is in a mysterious place called the 'Digital World', and has absolutely no idea how he got there. Destiny has partnered him up with an Elecmon to help the Chosen Children and their Digimon partners save an island, a continent, and ultimately, two worlds!
1. Wake Up!

Chapter 1: Wake Up!

"Wake up! Hey, wake up!"

The boy slowly opened his eyes. He was wearing a white-and-blue shirt with matching blue gloves and shoes. He had short brown hair, which was partially covered by a blue scarf and goggles.

"Huh? What? Where am I?" he asked.

A voice came from somewhere near him. "Why, you're in the Digital World!"

The boy raised his head and viewed his surroundings. The owner of the voice, a strange four-footed creature with red-and-blue fur and nine pointy fan-like tails, grabbed his immediate attention and took him by surprise.

"Whoa! Who are you? And what the heck are you supposed to be? Some sort of odd-looking new breed of wild dog?"

"Dog? I'm no dog. My name's Zamber, and I'm an Elecmon."

"And what in the world is an Elecmon?" asked the boy.

"A Digimon, of course! What else is there in this world?" Zamber answered. "And what's your name?"

"Me? Well, my name is Akira," the boy said as he got up. "And again, where am I?"

"I told you. This is the Digital World."

"And what is that supposed to mean? What's a 'digital world'?"

"It's this world. My world. You came here from another world, yours I guess."

"Hmm... that doesn't explain much," Akira thought out loud. "So I'm not on Earth, huh? Wonder how I got here. Did you bring me here by any chance?"

Zamber smiled. "Nope, I didn't. Though I have been waiting for you for quite a while now."

"You what?" Akira's eyes became wide. "You were waiting for me? What does that mean? Did you know I was gonna come here?"

"Somewhat, yes."

"How did you know?"

"I dunno, I just do."

That seemed to irritate him. "Well, looks like I'm not going to be able to get a lot of answers from you. I guess I just have to explore this place more for now, then." Akira looked around. "Hey, I just realized that we're in the middle of a jungle."

"Wow, you're quick to notice," Zamber teased sarcastically.

"Oh be quiet. I'm just disoriented, that's all." He brushed off the comment and started walking down a path. "Now, where's the exit of this forest...?"

"Wait, Akira. You can't go in that direction! That's where..." Zamber had started to yell when suddenly, a loud buzzing noise came from the sky.

Akira looked up to find the source of the noise, and what he saw made his hair stand: a giant, red stag beetle of some sort with huge scissors on the front of its head was flying right towards him!

"...the bugs of the forest are," Zamber completed his sentence.

Akira closed his eyes and was raising his hands to protect him from being rammed to death when suddenly, he heard a weird crackle hit something. He opened his eyes and saw Zamber standing in front of him, tails raised and looking angry.

"Don't you hurt my human partner, Kuwagamon. Go back to where you came from! Super Thunder Strike!" As he said that, sparks of lightning shot out from his tails and hit the big bug. The bug made a loud screeching noise, then seemingly flew off.

"Whoa..." was all Akira could manage.

Zamber turned to face him. "He he. Now what do you say to that? That was a Digimon of the Kuwagamon species, and it..."

"Look out!"

The big red bug, Kuwagamon, came flying back and was about to strike Zamber from behind, but luckily Akira dived forward and tackled Zamber just in the nick of time; Kuwagamon's scissor-like blades nearly cut them to pieces. It made an aerial maneuver and turned back, ready to strike once more.

Zamber quickly got up. "Haven't had enough, have you? Well, take this! Super Thunder Strike!" More bolts of lightning, this time a little bigger, shot out from Zamber's tails and hit Kuwagamon directly in the face and also its wings. It screeched again, then flew above Akira and Zamber before it crash-landed in the forest behind them.

Akira also stood up. "Come on, let's get out of here. Run there!" He pointed to the other direction and started sprinting.

"Finally. Good idea." Zamber followed him, and so they ran together.

After a while, they stopped. "Hhh... hhh... I think we lost it... hhh..." Akira was out of breath.

"Yeah. We covered a long distance," Zamber agreed.

"So explain to me again what that thing was."

Zamber sighed. "Like I said, that was a Kuwagamon. Just like me, Kuwagamon's a Digimon. Digimon are the things that inhabit this world, the Digital World. You're from the world of humans, and now you're not in that world anymore. For some reason you came here, where I found you unconscious. That's basically it up to the point when you woke up. Any more questions?"

Akira folded his arms and was quiet for a while before speaking again. "I see. And you don't know why I'm here, do you?"

Zamber shook his head. "I'm sorry. All I know is that you were coming, and that I was to be your Digimon partner. That's it. I don't even remember why I know that. Whatever happens, you're my human partner now and I must protect you from any threats here."

Akira was quiet again. "Thanks. You know, for what you did back there. I appreciate it."

Zamber smiled. "No problem. I'm gonna be saving your life a whole bunch of times from now on, anyway."

Akira chuckled. "Well then, if we're really supposed to be partners, I guess we better get to know each other better, then. Might as well start exploring this world and see if we can find out how I got here."

"Sure! I'll help you with that," Zamber said cheerfully.

And so the duo walked off, ready to embark on a journey of their lives, not knowing what destiny has in store for them.


	2. Little Goblins

Chapter 2: Little Goblins

"So basically, you don't know what a Digimon is, do you?" Akira asked Zamber the Elecmon.

"Nope. Just that we live here," he answered.

Akira and Zamber were still in the woods after their run-in with Kuwagamon, and now they're trying to find a way out.

"Hmm..." Akira was lost in thought, when suddenly Zamber cried "Hey, look!"

Akira looked up to see two mushroom-like creatures a few meters in front of them, happy smiles on their faces and talking to each other.

"Whoa! What are those things?" Akira said.

"No need to worry, those are Mushroomon. They look like nice Digimon to me," Zamber assured. "Besides, if they weren't, I would be able to take them on no problem."

Before Akira could comment, a buzzing noise came from somewhere to their right. They both looked to see a big yellow dragonfly swooshing through the trees, passing by them.

"And that would be...?"

"A Yanmamon. Yanmamon are Champion-level Digimon."

Now Akira was really confused. "Champion...level? What's that?"

Zamber continued to walk. "Well you see, all Digimon are in a certain stage, or level. With the passage of time, we can grow to higher levels, and when we do, we usually get stronger."

Akira kept up the pace with Zamber while talking. "Like growing and developing is for humans, huh? So what level are you in, Zamber?"

"I'm in the Rookie-level. Those Mushroomon are also Rookie-level Digimon. Champion-level Digimon like Yanmamon and Kuwagamon are a step above Rookies."

"Wait, what? Kuwagamon was a Champion-level?" Akira exclaimed. "Aren't Champion-level Digimons supposed to be a stage higher than Rookie-levels?"

"Well, they are," Zamber continued as he moved onwards. "But that doesn't necessarily mean Champions are stronger than Rookies. Strength depends on both the species of Digimon **and** the individual. And I have to say, I'm a particularly powerful Elecmon!" he added.

"Species? Individual? I don't get it."

"You see, there are many different kinds of Digimon out there in this world, called species. Each species' name is different, and mine is Elecmon. There are others, like the Mushroomon you already know about."

"So there are other Elecmons out there besides you?"

"Right! Oh and by the way, the plural form of 'Digimon' is still 'Digimon', not 'Digimons'. The same goes for the species' names."

"Okay, got it. So basically you're of the Elecmon species, but you're the only one that's... you. And those two Mushroomon are personally-different; they might be the same species, but they're not the same person, or rather, Digimon. Is that it?"

Zamber nodded. "Yep. I'm the only Zamber you'll ever meet in this world!"

"Now I see. And the –mon endings denote you guys are Digimon, right?"

"I guess so," Zamber said with a shrug.

Akira continued to walk. "So are there levels other than Rookie and Champion?"

"Yes there are. In fact, Rookie is the third level. The first level is Fresh, while the second is called In-Training. After that is Rookie, and then comes the Champion-level. There's a level beyond Champion, but I don't know anything about it other than it exists."

"Heeeeeeeeeeelp!" A cry suddenly came from behind them. They looked back to see the two Mushroomon they saw earlier running towards them, and they're not smiling this time. Akira perched where he stood to see three green caveman-looking Digimon, each with a red mohawk and holding what appears to be bone clubs, all of them chasing the mushrooms.

As the Mushroomon were nearing, Akira pointed to the cavemen and asked "Are those Digimon as well? What are they?"

Zamber quickly ran back while answering. "Those are Goburimon. I know for a fact that they're usually bullies. They get their kicks by pestering other Digimon."

"Well that's not right. We should give those Mushroomon a hand!" Akira said as he followed Zamber and started to run.

"Please help us!" one of the Mushroomon begged as they ran past Zamber.

"I will," Zamber reassured them. "Now run! I'll handle these punks."

The Goburimon didn't slow down when they saw Zamber. "Hey you, get out of our way!" one of them threatened.

"How about you guys stop what you're doing and go back home?"

That stopped them, and they look baffled. "What did you say? Are you challenging us to a fight?"

Another one said "Hahahaha, you've got to be joking! There's only one of you and three of us. What do you possibly think you can do that a pair of Mushroomon can't?"

"This," Zamber answered shortly. "Super Thunder Strike!" A lightning bolt shot out and hit the nearest Goburimon, knocking him down.

"Ha! How do you like that?"

"Mahzora! Why, you... Take this! Goburi Bomb!"

A ball of fire appeared in the palm of the second Goburimon. He held it as if he were pitching a baseball, then threw it at Zamber. Zamber jumped away and the fireball hit the ground, charring it.

"Want more? Super Thunder Strike!" Another lightning bolt shot out from Zamber's tails as he landed, knocking down the one that threw the Goburi bomb.

The last Goburimon made a fireball in his palm, a Goburi Bomb, and threw it at Zamber, while the first Goburimon, Mahzora, stood up and attacked Zamber. "Goburi Strike!" he said as he swung his club. Zamber was able to dodge the hit from Mahzora, but got burned by the hit from the bomb.

"Zamber!" yelled Akira, who was quickly approaching when he saw two more Goburimon to his left beating up on what appears to be a small, pink ball with long ears. "Oh man, I gotta help that guy!" He made a detour and jumped to the rescue of the pink Digimon.

"Hey!" he shouted. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?"

The two Goburimon looked at him and grinned evilly. "With pleasure."

One of them headed towards him with his club raised. "Goburi Strike!" he said as he swung the club down, but Akira reacted by sidestepping and then punched the Goburimon on his right cheek.

"How do you like that?" he said when suddenly the other Goburimon grabbed his left hand. Akira quickly hit him square in the jaw and the Goburimon squealed, releasing Akira's hand, with which he made a hook and hit him again, before landing a third blow to the gut with his right foot.

The Goburimon took a few steps back, obviously in pain, right before Akira was tackled by the first Goburimon. Akira fell down flat on his face. "Okay, Mr. Heroman-from-out-of-nowhere. How about you take some of this? Goburi Bomb!"

Akira could feel heat emanating from what surely must be a ball of fire forming in his attacker's hand. He tried to get up, but the Goburimon stepped on his back, making him unable to go anywhere.

"Come on, Mister! Don't give up!" Akira turned his face to see the pink Digimon, who was looking very worried. He saw the Digimon's big red eyes, and when their eyes met, the pink Digimon's eyes grew wide. "Hey, you're a human! A human, just like Taichi!"

"Say what?" Hearing this, Akira mustered all his strength into making a crouching position, fighting the pressure of the Goburimon's foot. This was enough to allow him to roll to his left, avoiding the Goburi Bomb thrown at him.

"No! Tch, I'll just have to do that again. Goburi..."

"Not this time, you don't!" Akira shouted as he headbutted the Goburimon on the stomach, then hit him again with a right uppercut and a left hook.

"Aaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggghh!" cried the Goburimon as he fell down, rolling on the ground with pain.

"Come on, I'll get you out of here." Akira picked up the pink Digimon and started to run away.

"Watch out!" the Digimon warned. Akira peeked back to see another bomb flying in his direction, and ducked just in time. The thrower, the second Goburimon, was hot on his trail.

"Come back here!" he demanded.

"Akira, get down!" a voice ordered him. Akira did so, right as a huge bolt of lightning shot past him and hit his chaser at the chest. The Goburimon screamed in pain, then fainted. Akira looked up to see a furious expression on Zamber's face, and beyond that, the three Goburimon Zamber had been fighting. It appears they had suffered the same fate as the one behind Akira.

"One more for you!" Zamber said angrily as he launched yet another Super Thunder Strike, this time at the last Goburimon, the one that had been rolling in pain. He was still trying to stand up when the electrical jolt hit him, and so he was launched up in to the air and hit a tree. The Goburimon collapsed.

For a while, everything was silent and there were no sounds other than Zamber's heavy breathing; obviously, he was tired. Akira stood up and walked towards his friend and saw that Zamber was bruised in some places and parts of his skin had burn marks. They were light, though.

"Are you okay?" both of them asked at the same time.

Akira answered first. "Those two didn't manage to hit me. Well, not too hard anyway. But forget about me, what about you?"

"Oh, this? Don't worry, I've taken hits worse than this. Nothing serious. As I had thought, those Goburimon were no match for my power."

"Obviously not." Akira grinned.

The pink Digimon, still in Akira's arms, spoke up. "Thank you, you two! I don't know how I would've been able to get myself out of that mess if you hadn't come along."

Akira said, "Don't mention it. But please, tell me more about what you said back there. Have you seen another human being in this world?"

"Seen one? Of course! Taichi's my human partner, after all."

Both Akira and Zamber was surprised to hear this. "What did you say?"


	3. Darkness

Chapter 3: Darkness

Somewhere...

"It's happening. Ha ha ha ha ha, he's finally ready," a voice said as a ball of light realized itself before the owner of the voice, consuming something small.

"So. It is time to send him off, then," another voice sounded.

"Yes. Today, we will start over where we left off. Today... darkness shall spread once more!"

XXXXXXX

Akira and Zamber were dumbfounded. "So you have a human partner as well, huh?" Akira inquired.

"Yes. He's about your height, has big, messy brown hair, wears a blue shirt with short brown pants and goggles similar to yours. His name's Taichi," Valcrist the Koromon, the small pink Digimon Akira rescued, said.

After the fight with the gang of green goblins, Akira, Zamber and Valcrist had been walking around to help Valcrist find his human partner. To find this Taichi person. Apparently, the reason Valcrist couldn't fight back was because he was an In-Training Digimon, the level below Rookies like Zamber and the Goburimon.

"Hmm. Why didn't you tell me there were other humans who were in this world?" Akira asked Zamber.

"Because I don't know. I know nothing about any of this," Zamber answered. "I'm just as surprised as you are. I never thought I'd see another human besides you."

"Get away from me!" a voice materialized from somewhere. Akira and the Digimon looked to their lefts and caught a glimpse of a boy standing and fighting a pair of Goburimon. The boy was wearing white shoes with short socks, and a yellow undershirt could be seen under his blue shirt. Both of his hands were covered in white gloves. He matched Valcrist's description of Taichi.

"Taichi!"

"Zamber, help him out," Akira ordered with surprising sternness.

But Zamber was already charging forward. "Way ahead of you. Super Thunder Strike!"

The attack flew straight to the Goburimon furthest from them, the one nearest to Taichi. At the sight of blue lightning knocking his opponent out, Taichi looked to see an odd red-and-blue Digimon running towards the other Goburimon. For some reason, it looked like electricity was running across its tails and sparks were flying off it.

The new Digimon headbutted the goblin, felling him, and then yelled, "Nine Tails!" and smacked the goblin on its face with its electrically-charged tails. The Goburimon was electrified for a few seconds, then he fainted as well.

For a while, it was silent. Then Akira walked towards the scene of the battle with Valcrist in his arms. At the sight, Taichi leaped up standing. "Valcrist! Thank goodness you're okay. And, whoa! Another human! I'm Taichi Yagami, and thanks for saving my life! Who might you be, by the way?" he said as he saw Akira.

"Hey there. Akira's the name. And that's Zamber, an Elecmon. He's my Digimon partner, I guess." Akira pointed to Zamber, who was smiling cheerfully at them. "You have him to thank for the save."

"Thanks a lot, Zamber!" Taichi said to him. "Those Goburimon thugs had been chasing us for quite a while now, until they managed to separate me and Valcrist. In fact, they split me up from all my other friends," He said as Valcrist jumped from Akira's hands and onto Taichi's.

Upon hearing this, Akira raised an eyebrow. "What? There are more? You came here with your friends?"

"Well, we didn't actually **come** here. More like we got sucked up towards the sky, which I remember was filled with northern lights."

"What's that? You were sucked up into the sky?"

"Yeah. Me and the rest of the group. Didn't you get here like that as well?"

"...I don't remember. I don't know how I got here."

"I see," Taichi said. "Well, do you wanna help me find my friends? Maybe we can find out more about how you got here along the way. Who knows, maybe we'll even find the answer as to what this place really is and why we're here."

Akira pondered this for a moment, then said, "Sure! It's not like I have anything better to do here anyway."

"Alright!" Valcrist and Zamber cheered. "Then let's begin our adventure now."

OOOOOOO

Akira, Taichi, Zamber and Valcrist had been walking for quite some time now. They were almost out of the forest, and they can see that the edge of the forest overlooks a wide beach. It looked like a regular beach: plain, dotted by some weird trees with nothing notable on it.

The whole way, Akira had asked Taichi a lot of things. Apparently, Taichi was on summer camp when he and six of his friends were whisked to the Digital World. They had seen an aurora of some sort, before it started snowing despite it being the middle of summer. After a blizzard had passed, they went outside of their hut and, well, got sucked into the aurora. Next thing Taichi knew, he was alone, on the ground of this world. Until he met Valcrist, that is.

"Oh, and I found this weird device on the snow. Looks like a mini-computer or something," Taichi said while he reached for something in his pants' pocket. Then he pulled out something white and (sort of) square with a screen, a small antenna and three blue buttons on its sides. It was about the size of a cellphone, and symbols are engraved on it in a circular pattern around the screen.

"...It looks like some sort of handheld video game to me," Akira said as he took it in his hand. "Do you know anything about this, Zamber?"

Zamber took a quick look at it, and then answered "Sorry, I've never seen it before in my entire life."

"I doubt it. Valcrist doesn't know what it is, either. It just fell out of the sky when the aurora appeared. All of my friends got one, too."

"They did? I wonder what this is then..." Akira said. "Does it have anything to do with this world? With Digimon?"

"AH-HA! There you are, you little brats," a voice sounded from above them. The four looked around to see a big goblin-like thing standing on a tree branch close to them. It looked like a Goburimon, but it was bigger, and it looked meaner, too. Its bone club was also bigger, and the red mohawk was seemingly replaced by a full head of long, silver hair.

This new Digimon was green just like Goburimon, but it had two long horns protruding form the its temples, and was wearing red bands on its left arm and right leg, and black ones on its right arm and left leg. It looked more like a troll of some sort or... an ogre.

"Why is it that we get attacked so often in this forest?" Akira complained quietly.

"Who the heck are you?" Valcrist shouted.

"I am Stravel the Ogremon. The mighty leader of the Goblin Gang! And you must be the punks that beat up my underlings back there."

Taichi stared at him. "If you're talking about those pathetic excuse for bullies called Goburimon, then yeah! That's right! What's it to you, huh?"

Stravel smiled an unnerving smile. "Well, I'm here to pay you back double for what you've done. Prepare for pain! Pummel Whack!"

He launched an attack by making a fist in the air, from which a blast of purple dark energy came shooting out towards them. The four jumped out of the way and turned to see the energy blast smack a tree bark into two.

Without hesitating, Stravel jumped down while screaming "Bone Cudgel!" and swung his club down at Akira. Akira dodged the attack by rolling to his side, but the big ogre, twice his size, manages to land a hit on him. Akira staggered back and felt that Stravel's physical strength wasn't on par with the Goburimon; it was way stronger. There's no way he could win on his own.

"Hahaha, what's wrong? Is that all you got?" Stravel chuckled as he saw Akira grimacing with pain from the blow. "Well, there's plenty more where that came from!"

"Super Thunder Strike!"

A bolt of lightning struck Stravel square in the chest, but he didn't look shocked, only momentarily stunned. He fired another Pummel Whack at Zamber, which launched the Elecmon high up into the air and hit a tree. Zamber got knocked down.

"Zamber! No!"

Stravel grabbed Akira by the front of his shirt. With only one arm, he lifted him up a few centimetres above the ground. "I am a Champion-level Digimon! What do you think a puny Rookie like that can do to me?"

"You're a what?" Akira exclaimed. He hadn't expected to come face-to-face with a Champion this soon. It was like fighting an adult, something that for some reason brought even more pain to him. He felt powerless all of a sudden, and dropped Taichi's device that was still with him down to the ground.

"That doesn't mean we can't fight back!" Taichi said as he thwacked the back of Stravel's head with a piece of wood from the broken tree. Stravel didn't look hurt at all, he just turned and pushed Taichi away with his free hand. Taichi was thrown against a tree a couple metres away.

"Taichi!" Valcrist said, anger bubbling up in him when he saw his human partner get hurt.

Then, something amazing happened: the device Akira had dropped began to emit a strange beeping sound, before flickering white. Suddenly, a bright flash shot out from the device, and for some reason this light was unbearable for Stravel, making him lose his grip on Akira.

At the same moment, a beam of light shot out from the sky, hitting Valcrist, enveloping his body. And for a moment, Valcrist was encased in light.

Taichi and Akira could only stare in awe. And though it was probably just his imagination, Akira thought he saw something spinning inside it.

"Koromon digivolves to... Agumon!" came a voice from the light pillar.

Then, as soon as it had appeared, the beam of light vanished. And there was no more Valcrist. Instead, a larger Digimon had taken its place. This Digimon looked nothing like Valcrist; it was around three-quarters Taichi's height, and shaped like a small yellowish-orange reptilian, or perhaps it fits the description of a small dinosaur.

"Whoa..." was all Taichi could manage to say.


	4. Digivolution

Chapter 4: Digivolution

After the bizarre occurrence had passed, all Akira and Taichi could do was stare in amazement at this new Digimon. It looked like a small dinosaur; it had two forearms that end in three-clawed hands and muscly legs that also end in three-clawed feet. It had a short, stubby tail and a snout, which is quite big compared to the rest of its body.

But while the two of them were silent, the dinosaur-like Digimon quickly began inhaling, and then held its breath. Then, the coolest thing happened: it breathed fire.

Or, to be precise, a fireball. "Pepper Breath!"

The orange sphere of flames went straight to Stravel and hit him in the face. Stravel, as he was off guard due to the sudden glowing light from Taichi's device, was taken aback by the sheer force and heat, and was knocked several steps back, staggering.

"Aaaaaah!" he screamed as he held up his hands to his face.

"Akira, out of the way!" ordered the new Digimon. Akira, who was still lying on the ground after Stravel dropped him, quickly scrambled away on all fours. The dinosaur Digimon inhaled again, and this time released an even bigger fireball, twice the size of a basketball. "Pepper Breath, **twofold!**"

"Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**" came from somewhere on Stravel's right side.

The fireball and the lightning bolt, oddly larger than usual, struck Stravel at the same time, causing an eplosion **on Stravel!** He looked like half-shocked and half-burned.

"AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" he yelled in pain as he half-ran backwards, face still in his hands. "You'll pay for this! You all will! I'll be back for revenge someday!" And then he turned and ran away, deep into the forest.

For the next few seconds, all was quiet.

It was Zamber who broke the silence, and he did it by stating something beyond the comprehension of the two human boys. "Valcrist... You, you've digivolved!"

OOOOOOO

Akira, Taichi, Zamber and Valcrist stepped out of the forest and onto the sandy plains. The boys were paying attention to Zamber's explanation of what just happened.

"So you see, as a Digimon matures, they get stronger and can move up a level. And when they do, they change forms. The process is termed 'digivolution'. That's basically what happened to Valcrist; he digivolved. He's now in the Rookie-level, and with new techniques and attacks he's way stronger than when he was still In-Training."

"So you're still Valcrist, is that it?" a confused Taichi asked. "You're Valcrist, but you're not a Koromon anymore. You're a... what now?"

"Agumon. I'm Valcrist the Agumon now!" said Valcrist with a grin.

The four of them were silent for a moment. They strolled on the beach, trying to spot anything of interest. Taichi, his gaze still locked onto his newly-transformed Digimon partner, said, "Okay, all of this is just weirding me out. It's also makin' me hungry. Let's rest for a while and find something we can eat here."

"Yeah, me too," Valcrist said with a nod.

Akira looked up and around. "I see some fruits up on the trees. I guess we can go pick 'em."

"Good idea," Taichi said as he walked towards the nearest tree, while the other three sat down on the sand.

"So why didn't you digivolve back there?" Akira asked Zamber. "We could've used the extra muscle!"

"Well, that's the thing. Normal digivolution takes time. The transition from a lower level to a higher level needs some time, and the amount of time it takes to get to the next level gradually increases with each level achieved," Zamber explained. "My time as an In-Training Digimon ended sometime before I met you, so I guess that makes me older than Valcrist. Though, the time taken to digivolve does vary from species to species."

"And the whole light show was all part of the process when digivolution happens?"

"Yup. But there is something that's still bothering me. Something that's not quite right..."

"What is it?" Valcrist asked.

Zamber turned and looked at Valcrist with a serious face. "That device. It emitted a strange light, and though I'm not sure, I think it triggered your digivolution. Which is odd, considering the only thing that determines when a Digimon digivolves is time."

Akira thought about the small white device that was already back in Taichi's pocket, who as they're speaking was coming back with an armful of coconut-like fruits. "It also kind of frightened Stravel. I wonder why..."

Just then, the ground beneath them shook, and a loud roar suddenly came from underneath. Then, a large, pink shellfish-like Digimon emerged from beneath the sand, roaring and bucking. It had green tentacles for hair, big four-fingered paws, and its most distinguishing feature was its big blue shell, which was covered with spikes and hid most of its body. It was twice as big as a bus.

From where it appeared, it separated Taichi from the rest of the group. As soon as it saw Taichi and the stack of fruits he in his arms, it bellowed "Who dares take anything from my beach? I am Wricco the Shellmon, and this is MY beach. No one may enter without my say-so!" Then he began to rampage towards Taichi, who naturally dropped all of the fruits and started running.

Meanwhile, the other three had already gotten up and split up. "Taichi!" Valcrist shouted. "Super Thunder Strike!"/"Pepper Breath!" came the two attacks from either side of Wricco. The two attacks hit him on both sides of his face, but the big Digimon seem unfazed.

"Hydro Pressure!" he said as a large jet of water shot out from the top of its head and nearly hit Taichi. The impact behind him made Taichi stumble down. Then, Wricco raised one of his paws and proceeded to stomp Taichi with it...

...when suddenly, Valcrist rolled down and **took the hit!** He used both his arms to keep Wricco's paw suspended, although it left hardly any room for Taichi to crawl out. Wricco used his other paw to sweep Zamber off his feet.

"Zamber!" Akira ran to his Digimon partner. "Are you okay?"

"Urrggh. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, but I can't say the same about those two." Zamber nodded to Taichi and Valcrist as he stood up. "Judging by its power, I think this Digimon is a Champion-level, like Stravel. It'll be really hard to beat him, even with the two of us working together."

Underneath Wricco's paw, Valcrist was still struggling. Taichi could only look at his Digimon partner, helpless.

"Oh no! Then what do we do now?"

Zamber looked at Akira with ominous eyes. "Hope for a miracle..."

And just like that, like destiny heard the call, something miraculous happened: a bright white light shone, seemingly from Taichi's pants' pocket. Akira identified it as the same light from before, the light emitted by Taichi's device. Valcrist, who was losing the battle against the weight of Wricco's mighty paw, was enveloped in the light yet again.

Taichi, from an almost point-blank distance, could see almost clearly that Valcrist was spinning in place. And bizarrely, it seemed as if Valcrist **was growing bigger!**

"Agumon digivolves to... Greymon!"

And again, the light disappeared as quickly as it appeared. Taking Valcrist's place was a large dinosaur, way larger than what Valcrist had been. The sheer size of it alone was enough to lift Wricco's paw easily and imbalanced him.

The dinosaur, wearing a brown skull-like helmet with a long horn on its front and two more on the sides, took a charging stance and yelled "Great Antler!" and charged forward **directly at the Shellmon!** It hit Wricco with its big horns, but Wricco managed to fight back with its paws raised.

It was a battle of strengths now, like a wrestling match. It looked like the two Digimon were of equal physical strength. "What's this? Did you just digivolve right underneath my paw?" Wricco exclaimed. His opponent didn't respond, just concentrated on the match.

But then, the big blue-striped yellow dinosaurian Digimon **lifted Wricco up and threw him clean to the air!** Over the water he went, screaming. "Nova Blast!" Valcrist's Champion form said as it fired an immense fireball, ten times bigger than the Pepper Breath, at the airborne Wricco. It hit and sent him flying way over the ocean line, too far to be seen. A large splash followed his fall.

"Oh man, not again. I have no idea what's happening now," Zamber said, stunned.

And then, right at that moment, another light appeared, this time from Valcrist's body. After a few seconds, it ended...

...to reveal the dinosaur Digimon had shrunk! Back to an Agumon, who then proceeded to collapse. He didn't exactly pass out, just fell down due to exhaustion.

"This thing... can NOT get any weirder." Akira and Zamber mumbled simultaneously, as Taichi ran to Valcrist. Oh, how wrong they were!


	5. Rest at Night

Chapter 5: Rest at Night

"It's getting late. I think we should rest here for the night."

Akira, Taichi, Zamber and Valcrist had been walking for a few hours now. Shortly after the fight between Valcrist and Wricco, the four of them quickly left the beach and headed west, through some large, open grassy fields. The day was ending, and they were tired. The big round moon was beginning to show itself, its likeness to their world's moon surprised Akira and Taichi.

"Hey guys, look. I see a lake over there," said Zamber. The others looked to his left and saw that indeed there was a lake surrounded by some trees. It wasn't a very large lake, but it looked clean, comfortable, and most importantly, secluded. They had had a long day and the last thing they would need is an unexpected attack in the middle of the night.

"Yeah, you're right. Listen, how about we settle down over there by the lakeside? It looks safe for us to spend the night, and maybe we can catch some fish in it," Taichi suggested. "We haven't had get a chance to eat anything, and I don't know about you guys, but I could really use some food."

"Well, as long as its not fish Digimon!" Valcrist replied.

"There are fish Digimon?" Akira asked.

"Of course there is! You didn't think Digimon were just bugs and dinosaurs and ogres and shellfishes, now did you?"

"Umm, well..."

"Ah, the heck with it. I'm going there right now! Come on, follow me!" Taichi said as he ran to the lake. The other three followed him.

As they got closer, Akira noticed that the moonlight was giving the lake a strange yet enchanting effect. It looked mystifying, as if there were a lot of things this lake could tell him, things that Akira really wanted to know. He shook his head and disregarded the feeling.

When he arrived at the lakeside, he sat down and rested his back on the nearest tree bark. He let out a sigh. "Hhh... I'm beat."

Meanwhile, Taichi was up on his feet, searching for something on the ground he could use as a fishing pole. Quite a lot of fallen leaves were covering the ground, and the darkening sky didn't help. "Valcrist, come over here and help me find a long stick or branch or something."

As Valcrist hurried to his human partner, Zamber noticed that the ground was also covered with something else: mushrooms. Lots of them. And each of them was near a tree root. Akira saw them too. "Look, mushrooms. I always liked mushrooms!" he said, eyes glittering as he got up and started picking them up.

"Careful, Akira. Some of those are poisonous," Zamber warned.

"I know, I know. I used to go on outings a lot, so I'm quite familiar with this kind of stuff. The spotted ones are usually poisonous."

After a while, Akira had collected some mushrooms, Zamber had picked up some woods and Valcrist used his Pepper Breath to start a campfire. Taichi also did his part and had managed to catch a few fish, using the branch he found as a fishing pole ans some string that he had with him for the line. The four of them then proceeded to eat, and finished dinner in no time.

"Aah, that's better," Taichi said with a satisfied look.

"You can say that again." Valcrist grinned widely.

"Aah, that's better."

"Phew, I'm full. Now I'm getting sleepy," Akira said as he yawned. But then he noticed that Zamber was quiet. He had hardly said anything. "What's wrong, Zamber?"

Zamber was startled. "What? Oh no, it's nothing. I was just thinking about what happened earlier at the beach." He glanced at Valcrist, then continued. "Why did Valcrist digivolve back then? He had just digivolved this morning, and then again. Twice in one day."

"Anything wrong with that?" asked Taichi.

"Yes! In my experience, that kind of stuff just doesn't happen. To advance to the next stage, you need some time. And from stage to stage, the time taken increases. If it took a few weeks for Valcrist to turn into a Rookie, then it should've taken him at least a month to progress to the Champion level. Which is why what happened today was so weird."

"Hmmm..." they all fell silent, thinking about it.

"Well, I for one am really thankful he digivolved when he did, 'cause it sure saved my butt," Taichi said absent-mindedly. "Maybe Valcrist's just... a special case. A special Digimon." Valcrist smiled hearing this.

"Yeah, that could be it. I mean, you did say the time needed to digivolve isn't the same for all species of Digimon," Akira added.

"Well yeah, maybe. But even so, a few hours? I mean, come on. I'm older than him and I haven't digivolved yet. It's not normal. What would you say if you were suddenly bigger and stronger than your parents, Akira?"

"Hmm, well if you put it that way, then I guess it does sound strange."

"I have to agree with Zamber," Valcrist said. "Though Taichi is definitely right about me being special," he smiled smugly as he said this, "my digivolutions were really weird. It **felt** weird, too."

"Felt? You mean you can feel something when you guys transform?" asked Taichi.

Zamber answered him with one eyebrow raised. "Sure we do. It feels like a lot of energy is taking over our body, changing it from the inside. Kind of sounds literal."

Akira pondered this for a moment. "You're talking about that device again, aren't you?"

"Yes I am. I think that device gives out energy, energy that can be used for digivolution. A barrellful of it. And if that's true, well it would have some serious implications."

"Such as?" Taichi asked while taking out his device again from his pocket.

"I'm not sure yet, but it has to be something big. The real question, however, is how **you** ended up with such a device. And if what you said is true, that each of you're friends got one too, then... well I don't want to think about that now," Zamber said while yawning. "I'm pretty tired myself. We need to think about this, but for now, we need sleep more."

"Yeah, you're right," Valcrist yawned as well. "But we need to take turns watching, or else something bad might happen."

"Then I'll take the first watch," Taichi volunteered. "You guys go and sleep first."

Akira nodded. "Right. When you're already too sleepy, wake me up then."

OOOOOOO

"Hey. Hey Akira, wake up."

The sleeping boy in blue slowly and reluctantly answered. "What? Is it time for my shift?" he said without opening his eyes.

"No, there's something else. I see something, something big, and it's headed our way."

Hearing this, Akira sat upright in a second and rubbed his eyes. Then he was handed a white monocular by Taichi.

"There, look there." He looked through the monocular in the direction Taichi pointed him, and sure enough, a large and lean quadrupedal shadow can be seen walking towards them. It was too far and too dark to make out what the shadow was, but it looked beastly and menacing, and that was enough to alert Akira.

"Oh boy, that looks like it could be trouble," Akira mumbled as Taichi woke their Digimon partners up.

"C'mon, let's get out of here before that thing comes here," Taichi said.

The four of them went north, away from the lake, avoiding the menacing creature that was coming towards them, or perhaps it was the lake that drew the creature there. After they were sure they were far enough, the group settled down again.

"Okay, this time don't wake me up until morning," said Valcrist, who was already closing his eyes. As for Zamber, well, he was already asleep again!

"They must be really tired after what happened today," Taichi said, smiling as he looked at their Digimon partners. Akira, however, was eyeing the Digimon that was now walking back and forth at the lakeside.

"Do you think that was a dangerous Digimon?" asked Taichi.

"I don't know, but..." Akira answered as he looked through Taichi's monocular again. "...it looks like some sort of wolf. A big, white wolf with blue stripes and sharp fangs."

"Then I guess it's a good thing we got out of its way."

"Yeah," Akira agreed. "Listen, you go and get some sleep. It's my turn to keep watch anyway."

"Alright then. G'night, Akira," Taichi said as he laid on the ground and went to sleep. Akira just sat there and kept an eye on the big Digimon all night, not daring to imagine what that thing could do to him and his friends.

XXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back at the lake, the wolf-like Digimon was sniffing the ground, looking for a scent.

"So? Can you find anything?" somebody asked. The Digimon looked back to see a human boy, who was walking from behind him. The Digimon shook its head.

"I'm sorry, Yamato. I can pick up his scent here, which means he must've come here not long ago. But he's left."

"I see," the boy, Yamato, said. He looked worried. "Can you trace him from here?"

"I'll try my best," said the wolf Digimon, and he sniffed the ground once more. After he had circled the lake, he called out. "I got it! He went this way!"

Yamato ran to the Digimon's side. "Follow the trail, Garurumon!" The wolf nodded and walked away, into the dark woods. Yamato stood there, alone. "Oh Takeru, I hope you're alright," he said, before following the Garurumon.


	6. Arrival of Evil

Chapter 6: Arrival of Evil

The shadow landed. "I've arrived." He took a look around. The shadow smiled. "This place is better than I imagined it."

He inspected the place a little more, before finally finding what he was looking for. "This is it," he said. "With this, I can conquer the world, starting with this puny island!"

He grabbed one, and felt its power. "Ahh yes. I feel powerful."

Then he heard a sound, a wing flap. He turned, and spotted a great shape in the sky not too far from where he was. "A perfect test subject." And the shadow laughed an evil laugh.

XXXXXXX

After the Sun went up, Akira, Taichi, Zamber and Valcrist went off to search for Taichi's friends. They had walked for a while, and now the group found themselves somewhere on a mountain range.

"Wonder where we are now," Valcrist muttered.

"The mountains," Akira answered unhelpfully.

"Whoa, I had no idea my partner was such a genius!" Zamber joked. Akira glared at him. "Sorry, couldn't help myself."

Taichi looked around. "These plants are different than the ones we've seen before." Indeed, the plants that surrounded them now were more bulbous, and there were fewer bushes around. "I think we're at the foot of a mountain."

The four of them hiked through, resting from time to time. Along the way, they saw a weird marking on the ground. It was circular, and didn't look natural. In fact, it stands out in this panoramic environment. Akira and Taichi asked, but neither Digimon knew what it was, or how it got there, so they left it alone and continued forward.

"Look, a pathway," Akira pointed out after some time.

"Let's follow it," Taichi suggested, and so they did, leading them to an enormous, grassy field. It was a very, very open space, but it was empty.

"Whoa." Akira was astonished. "This is place is huge!"

"Yeah, you're right," Taichi agreed.

"Look, another pathway. I think this one leads downhill." Zamber said, directing at another path to their left. The four of them followed the narrow path, and soon they found themselves at another opening, this one not as wide as before. And this one wasn't empty, either: a pack of Digimon was roaming the place in the distance.

"What are-" Akira made to ask, before he was cut off by a scream that seemed to originate from somewhere in front of the pack.

"Aaaaah, noooo! Get away from me!"

When Taichi heard this voice, he immediately sprang into action. "Sora! Valcrist, come on!" he said as he charged forward.

"Wait Taichi! Come back!" Zamber tried calling him back, but he was already sprinting, and in a flash, Valcrist was running behind him.

"Let's go, Zamber." Akira moved, but then...

"Stop!" Zamber ordered. Akira froze.

He turned back. "What is it? We have to help!"

"Listen to me. Those things are Flarerizamon." He nodded to the fiery Digimon that looked like a lizard wearing a demonic metal mask and claws. "And those are Darkrizamon." He nodded to the other type of Digimon in the pack.

Akira noted that they both looked identical, aside from the color of the flames and their masks. Flarerizamon were covered in orange fire and wore a silver mask and claws, and Darkrizamon in black fire and wore golden ones.

"So? You can tell me that later."

"I'm not done. They're Champion-level Digimon. Both of them," Zamber explained.

"They're what?"

Zamber looked serious. "And there are ten of them. Valcrist and I couldn't hurt Wricco alone, so what do you think will happen if we charge headfirst into their pack?"

As he was explaining this, Akira saw Valcrist get punched out of the way by a Flarerizamon, and then headbutted by a Darkrizamon. He fell to the ground.

"That?" Akira pointed at Valcrist. "So what do we do, then?"

"We split them up. The reason they go in packs is because Flarerizamon and Darkrizamon are fairly weak on their own. I'm pretty sure I can take them down, as long as I face them one at a time."

"Gotcha! Then I'll distract them and you attack."

Zamber nodded, sparks flying of his tails, ready for battle.

"Hey, big, hot and ugly!" Akira shouted to the nearest Flarerizamon. He turned and waved his butt at him. "Bet you can't get me."

The Flarerizamon looked angry. "I'll roast you to ashes!" he yelled as he ran towards Akira. Akira turned to face him, and jogged backwards.

"Running away?" exclaimed the Flarerizamon as he chased after the boy.

"Nope. Just luring you," Akira answered, smiling as he ducked to make way for the crackle of lightning. It hit the flaming lizard right in the face, and he went sprawling to the ground.

"Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggggh!" he shouted in pain, but Zamber leapt over Akira and shot him again with lightning. After a third shot, the Flarerizamon was knocked out.

"It worked!" Akira said, but Zamber was already bouncing over to the pack.

"Come on, Akira. Get more of them here," he said, looking fierce.

Akira didn't waste time; he immediately went to the next nearest Digimon and annoyed him. "Hey you, black fella!" he called out to a Darkrizamon. "Come and get some!"

The Darkrizamon was angry, but instead of chasing Akira, he opened his mouth. "Dark Flare!" Black flames shot out at Akira, who dodged at the last second. He saw some rocks behind him melt.

"Uh-oh."

"Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**" a large bolt of lightning flew directly toward the Darkrizamon from his right. He fell to the ground, kneeling. "Uuuuuurrrghhh, what was that?"

Zamber attacked again, and the Darkrizamon fainted.

OOOOOOO

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field...

"Taichi, did you see that?" asked Valcrist, who was getting up after being headbutted by a Darkrizamon.

"I sure did," Taichi answered in a whisper. "We have to hit them one-by-one. Go, Valcrist!"

"Right." Valcrist stood up. He faced the Darkrizamon in front of him.

"Haven't had enough, eh?" the black flame Digimon said. "Well then, time to finish you off!"

"Not this time. Claw Attack!" yelled Valcrist as he used his claws to attack the Darkrizamon.

"Haaaaagh! That didn't hurt!" the Darkrizamon said, although he was obviously lying.

"Then have some more. Claw Attack! Claw Attack! Claw Attack!" Valcrist hit him repeatedly, about ten times. The Darkrizamon staggered with each hit. "And take this: Pepper Breath!"

The fireball went directly to his face, and he went down, screaming "Aaaaaaarrrrghhhhh!" Valcrist didn't waste any time; he quickly unleashed a barrage of clawing and fireball-breathing to the Flarerizamon next to him, who ended up in the same fate as his brethren.

"You go, partner!" Taichi cheered on, when suddenly there was a cry.

"HELP ME!" It was the same voice from before.

"Oh no, Sora's in danger!" said Taichi. But there were two more Digimon in front of him and Valcrist, and it would take too long to cut through them. He looked to his far right to see Akira and Zamber, who had taken down two of the lizards but the other four were beyond them, ganging up on what must be Sora.

"Sora! Noooooooooooo!" he shouted.

"Taichi?" the owner of the voice called out.

"Watch out, Sora!" another voice rang out amidst the four lizards.

"Fire Pillar!" Suddenly, there was a tall pillar of fire rising up from the ground. Even from where he was standing, Taichi could tell that it was extremely hot.

"SOORAAAAA!" Taichi screamed in terror.

And then there was a bright light, shining hard. The familiar light that had shone twice yesterday. The light that came from the mysterious device.

"Biyomon digivolves to... Birdramon!"


	7. Phoenix Rising

Chapter 7: Phoenix Rising

In an opening on the mountains, a large, fiery bird rose up to the sky. Embers were dropping with every flap of its wings, and the only parts not covered in flames were its beak and its talons. It had seemingly appeared out of nowhere, but Akira knew better. That flash of light earlier was all too familiar.

"Oh my goodness..." he said, breathing in at the sight. "That is one **big** bird. And it's on fire!" He didn't even notice that the temperature just got even higher, and that he was sweating now.

"SORA!" yelled Taichi from the other side of the field. Akira looked closer, and saw a human being sitting on one of the bird's legs. It was a girl, and she looked frightened. She was holding tight onto the bird's leg.

Then, the bird said, "Don't worry, Sora. I'll protect you!" And it closed its wings, and suddenly small **meteors** came shooting out of them! "Meteor Wing!"

The meteors rained down upon the remaining Flarerizamon and Darkrizamon, and exploded on impact with the ground, scattering them. Some of them were hit directly and knocked down. Akira, Taichi, Zamber and Valcrist immediately retreated backwards.

"Fire Pillar!"

"Dark Flare!"

The Champion-level lizards tried firing back at the firebird, but it just swerved and turned and avoided all their attacks. The bird flew high, and from a distance the girl on its leg seemed to be nauseous. Then, the bird swooped low quickly, its legs out in front and crying out "Mach Grinder!" and attacked all of the Flarerizamon and Darkrizamon that were still standing with its talons.

All of them fell. The bird then balanced its flight with its mighty wings, and soon landed in the middle of the field. The girl jumped off its leg. She looked woozy.

"Are you okay, Sora?" it said, sounding worried. "I'm sorry about the sudden high-speed flight, but... "

"Sora!" Taichi quickly ran to her, Valcrist close behind. Akira and Zamber followed suit.

As for the girl, she stepped away from the firebird. "W-w-what are you?"

"Sora? It's me. I'm Riella."

"What?"

"Sora! You're alright!" Taichi said as he neared her, smiling and looking relieved.

"Taichi? Taichi!" she said, eyes widening when she saw him. They quickly hugged. "Oh Taichi, I'm so glad I finally found you." She closed her eyes, smiling, a bit teary-eyed. When she opened them, she let go of Taichi quickly. "Wah! A dinosaur!"

Taichi looked back, and laughed when he saw what alarmed his friend. "Ha ha ha, that's my Digimon partner, Valcrist the Agumon."

"What's up?" greeted Valcrist.

"Uuh, hello," Sora said, smiling nervously.

"So this must be your Digimon partner, huh?" Taichi said when he neared the firebird, looking up in awe. "Hi there, I'm Taichi."

"Umm, actually my partner is a smaller bird Digimon, not this huge monstrosity."

The firebird's eyes bulged when it heard the comment. "Monstrosity? Sora, that's just mean!"

"Taichi!" Akira and Zamber called out as they came.

"Oh Sora, meet some new friends of mine, Akira and Zamber, an Elecmon. They helped me find you."

"Hi, I'm Sora Takenouchi," she said while offering a hand. Akira grabbed it and they shook hands.

"Uh guys," Zamber cut off, "this is all well and good, but I think we can skip the introductions for later. We should get out of here as fast as we can." As he said so, there were some moans and Akira saw what Zamber was worried about: the Flarerizamon and Darkrizamon were getting up.

"He's right. Climb on my legs, everyone. I'll fly us to safety, far away from here," the firebird said. "Hurry!"

"What? No way!" Sora exclaimed. "I'm not flying with you again, I could throw up!"

"I don't think there's another option. We have to get out of here now," Taichi said as he climbed on the firebird's right leg, Valcrist beside him. Akira and Zamber climbed on its left leg. "Come on."

"But, but..."

"If your partner reverts back now, we won't be able to escape from all of them. This is our chance to go, so let's go."

"That's not my partner..."

"Yes I am!" the firebird chirped in.

"...and what do you mean revert back? What is going on here?" she asked, looking confused.

Taichi stuck out his arm. "I'll explain to you everything on the way, but we have to leave **now!** Trust me."

Sora looked uncertain, but she finally reached for Taichi's hand anyway and climbed to the bird's leg. And they were soon airborne, flying away.

OOOOOOO

As the firebird flew through the air, Sora listened closely to what Taichi was saying. She was wearing a yellow sleeveless shirt and blue pants. She also wore a round blue hat, red gloves and black-and-red shoes. After Taichi finished explaining, she understands what happened to her partner Digimon.

"Okay, so let me get this straight: you're telling me that this bird here," she pointed up to the Digimon that was carrying them, "is the digivolved form of my partner?"

"Uh-huh." Taichi nodded.

"I tried to tell you," the firebird complained.

Sora looked up, and smiled. "I'm sorry. Well then, let me introduce all of you to my partner Digimon, Riella the Biyomon! Or, hmm... what are you now?"

"I'm a Birdramon now, Sora," Riella answered.

"Birdramon. Alright, I get it," she said kindly. "Thank you for saving me back there, Ri."

"Of course! I'll do anything I can to protect Sora," Riella replied while smiling happily.

"Hey, we helped too!" Valcrist said, grinning.

"Of course, thanks Val," Sora thanked him, then to Akira and Zamber "You guys, too. Thanks a lot."

"Don't mention it!" Akira smirked, putting his hands behind his back.

"Riella deserves most of the credit, actually." Zamber said. "She digivolved because of your device."

"You mean this thing?" Sora said as she took out a white object from her pants' pocket, the same as Taichi's.

"Yup, that's the one, alright," Taichi said, also holding his device in his hand and comparing it to Sora's. They were absolutely identical. "These things give out energy that's required for normal digivolution. So our partner Digimon can digivolve much quicker if one of these things are around, even though only for a short while. At least, that's what Zamber thinks."

"I see," Sora said, pondering the fact. "So that's what you meant by 'reverting back'. Riella won't stay a Birdramon for long, so we needed to hurry while she can still get us out of there, huh?"

"Exactly!" Taichi answered. A short while later, Riella landed on a large grassy field. It was the same one that Akira and the others had wandered into earlier on, but they were in the middle of it now. When they landed, Akira observed the surroundings. It really was empty, despite its enormous size.

Then another white light shone bright, and before anyone knew it, Riella had shrunk! She was now a small, pink bird with a yellow beak and red claws and talons, and there were colors of blue at the end of some parts of her body. She was about as tall as Valcrist.

"I'm back!" Riella said in a squeaky voice, sounding astonished at her sudden transformation. "Look Sora, I'm a Biyomon again! I'm not that 'monstrosity' anymore." She smiled widely.

"I didn't know it was you back there, Ri," Sora said to her partner lovingly. "You're definitely not a monster. You're my savior."

"Sooraaaa," Riella said as she hugged her, touched by the compliment. Sora returned the hug.

Meanwhile, Zamber turned to Valcrist. "So how come you didn't digivolve back there? Things would've been way easier if you had become a Greymon again."

Valcrist shrugged. "I dunno. It's not like I didn't want to." He put a hand on his stomach, the part that had been headbutted by the Darkrizamon. "Besides, there was no light energy thingy then."

"Okay, so why didn't that thing of yours flash this time?" Akira asked Taichi this time.

"Why are you asking me? I didn't make this thing. I don't even know how it works," Taichi responded. He stared at the device. "I thought it was on automatic. Y'know, like stuff that only kicks in during emergencies."

"No way," Akira said. "Are you saying that thing's some sort of guardian angel or something?"

"You know, I think Taichi has a point," Zamber said after thinking for a while.

"He does?" Akira asked.

"I do?" Taichi asked.

"Yeah. You guys remember when it flashed yesterday, when it covered Valcrist in the light?"

"How can I not, I was almost crushed to a pulp by Wricco the Shellmon's paw. That thing saved my life," Taichi answered.

"That's the point. It saved your life, just like it saved Sora's when she was about to be attacked by the Flarerizamon. It made Riella digivolve just before they were toast. Literally."

"So?" Valcrist asked.

"Soo, maybe it only works if we're in trouble."

"It really **is** a guardian angel?" Akira was stunned.

"I don't think so. I wasn't in any danger when we were fighting Stravel, remember?" Valcrist chimed in, and then turned to Akira. "In fact, you were."

"Hmm..." Akira wondered for a while, chin in hand. Then he raised his head in realization. "But so was Taichi," He said slowly. "Taichi had been attacked a moment before your first digivolution."

"Oh, yeah, you're right." Taichi nodded. "My back still hurts a little from where it hit that tree yesterday," he added.

"So it only works if the **human** is in danger?" Sora joined in on the discussion. She was done hugging Riella and had listened to their conversation.

Zamber concluded. "That would certainly fit, and also explain why you guys got them. Kind of."

"Hmmmm..." All of them hummed in harmony. For a moment, they were all silent.

"Alright then, so why didn't I get one? I get in danger in this world too!" Akira burst out, demanding. "A little emergency protection would be appreciated!"

"Maybe you're not deserving of an angel?" Zamber mocked.

"Hey! That's not funny!" Akira shouted. The others laughed out loud. And all of a sudden, there was a yell from somewhere in the sky.

"Aerial Attack!" and a ball of air shot out from up above and hit them where they stood. Hard.

"ZAMBER!"

"RIELLA!"


	8. Under Fire of Air

Chapter 8: Under Fire of Air

The blast came so unexpectedly that for a second Akira thought he was going to die in the attack. However, Zamber had jumped behind him to cover for him at the last second, taking the attack head-on. But it also served to knock him out cold.

"Zamber! Wake up!" Akira yelled to his partner, who was lying unconsciously in his arms. No response.

"Riella! Can you hear me? Riella!" He looked to his right and saw that Riella the Biyomon had used her body as well to protect Sora, and she had suffered the same fate as the poor Elecmon.

Akira looked up to see the source of the blast, and for a moment he couldn't find anything in the sky. Then he spotted it: a winged shape, hovering a few meters away from their group, its four legs tense. From this distance, Akira couldn't clearly see the exact shape, but he wasn't going to stick around to find out.

"Let's get out of here!" he said, standing and carrying Zamber in his arms. Sora didn't need to be told twice; she immediately did the same. Taichi, however, was running **with** his Digimon partner beside him. Akira didn't see it, but Valcrist actually knocked Taichi out of the way a second before the blast came, so he was still standing now.

Suddenly, the shape flew over to them and opened its mouth. "Aerial Attack!" it yelled, and another blast of high-pressure air ball whooshed to the group. They all dodged and the powerful hit blew chunks dirt out of the ground.

The flying Digimon attacked again and again, raining whatever hell it could shoot out to the children and their Digimon partners. They became scattered.

"This is insane!" shouted Taichi, who was running in zigzags. "What the heck **is** that thing? And why is it attacking us?"

Akira just kept running behind him. "I don't know, but right now we need to find cover or we're going to be blown to bits," he said just as another ball of high-pressure air landed beside him, booming on impact, creating a big hole on the ground.

"I don't like being blown to bits!" Valcrist yelled as some dirt fell on him.

"There! Over there! I see an opening." Akira pointed to a recess on the mountainside. It looked like a small cave. "Head there!"

As they neared the cave, though, it was obvious that the six of them wouldn't fit in there. Akira was wondering what they would do when Taichi stopped running, and Valcrist soon did too.

"What are you doing?" Sora asked in panic. "Come on, let's go!"

Taichi seemed to be in thought, then he said, "You guys hide there. Valcrist and I will lure that thing away."

"What?"

"Sora, that cave's too small," Taichi explained, while Valcrist searched the sky nervously, wary of another attack. "You and Akira stay there and watch over Zamber and Riella. We'll hold him off."

"No way! You can't fight that thing, it's too dangerous. You could get hurt!" Sora said worriedly.

"Don't worry, I got Valcrist here with me," he said confidently, looking at his partner, who smiled back in return. "And besides," Taichi added "I have this to rely on if things get really ugly." He took out the mysterious white device from his pocket.

Sora was still unconvinced. "But..." she started when Taichi spoke to Akira. "Watch her for me, will ya?"

"You can count on me." Akira nodded, then grabbed Sora's shoulder and walked backwards, pulling her back and entering the cave as Taichi and Vacrist ran to the middle of the field. "Come on."

Sora tried to get loose from Akira's grip, but since she was using both of her hands to carry Riella, she couldn't break free. "Lemme go, Akira. We can't let Taichi put himself in that kind of situation. He could get badly hurt! We need to help him!"

"And how do you suggest we do that, huh?" he asked her. "That's a very powerful Digimon to have knocked **both** our partners out, so what hope do we have against that thing?"

This question made Sora turn, but she still looked on edge.

"You have to trust them. They're gonna be fine," Akira assured her as he put Zamber on the ground gently. "Valcrist is strong. And Taichi's right: he has that device with him. This is actually a good chance to see if our theory about it was right," he said, looking out to the field. In his head he hoped it was.

XXXXXXX

"There it is!" Taichi shouted and pointed at the sky to the east. The shape was flying over to them at high speed. Taichi squinted his eyes to get a better look at the Digimon...

...and was very surprised to see that it was **a horse!** A winged white horse with really large ears, a body full of scars and was wearing a red metal mask that had a single horn protruding from it. It also had a bright yellow mane and tail.

As it neared the pair, it opened its mouth and shot out another ball of high-pressure air. Taichi and Valcrist jumped in opposite directions and the blast hit nothing but empty ground.

Valcrist used this opportunity to quickly spring up and fired back. "Pepper Breath!" he shot a fireball at the horse. It attack landed on its side and the horse was pushed a little, neighing loud. But it regained its composure in no time and was soon flying away.

"Darn, he's pretty strong," Valcrist muttered. Taichi stood up and saw the horse swerving back in midair, and looked like it was about to ram into Valcrist's back.

"Watch out, Valcrist!" he warned.

"Javelin Thrust!" the horse shouted, swooping fast to jab his opponent with his horn.

The Agumon sidestepped and managed to land a Claw Attack on the bigger Digimon. The hit seemed to hurt the horse and it crash-landed on the ground, clashing with solid ground wildly.

"Yes! Take that, you four-legged freak of nature!" Taichi said triumphantly, and proceeded to kick the horse on the body. The horse tried to get up. It looked like it wanted to bite Taichi violently.

"Be careful, Taichi." Valcrist said from behind the horse when he saw something lodged on the back of his opponent. He couldn't quite see it when the horse was flying so high and swooping so fast, but right now it was clear that there was something that looked like a black gear stuck on the horse.

"What the..." the little dinosaur wondered with astonishment. Taichi saw it too, and he stepped away from the horse, sensing something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong with whatever's on the back of this Digimon.

But the horse got the jump on him, and managed to ram him before quickly galloping away. Taichi fell to the ground.

"Taichi!" Valcrist hurried over to his human partner. "Are you okay?"

Taichi opened his eyes and propped himself up on the ground with his elbows. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, before seeing their foe turning back. It was still standing on the ground.

"Uh-oh, this isn't good," Taichi muttered, right before the horse opened its mouth. Valcrist jumped in front of Taichi to protect him.

"Taichi!"

"Valcrist!"

"Aerial Attack!"

XXXXXXX

"Oh no, they're in trouble!" exclaimed Sora from the cave when the horse Digimon turned its head to the pair. "Taichi! NO!"

"Wait!" Akira said. "Look!"

The next second, there was a blinding flash of light from Taichi, and a boom could be heard, the sound coming from where Taichi and Valcrist were standing.

And then there was a voice in the middle of it all. "Agumon digivolves to... Greymon!"

When she opened his eyes, Sora couldn't believe her eyes: a huge, blue-striped orange-skinned dinosaur had taken Valcrist's place, and it took the hit from the horse Digimon, the hit that had knocked both Riella and Zamber in one go, like it was nothing! It just got pushed back a little bit. She released the breath she was holding when she saw that Taichi was okay.

"Is that... is that **Valcrist?**" she asked in disbelief.

Akira nodded, relieved to see that he digivolved in time. "Yep. That's Valcrist's Champion form, Greymon! He's really powerful."

As he said so, Valcrist opened his fanged mouth and let loose a huge ball of fire at his adversary. "Nova Blast!" it went straight towards the horse, which flew away just as the fireball passed by it. The fireball hit a tree and it exploded to tiny pieces.

Sora was in awe. "That was amazing. We should be able to win with that kind of power on our side."

But Akira wasn't so optimistic. "I wouldn't be so sure, if I were you," he said, looking at the fight. "We're not out of the woods yet."

"Why? It's obvious that Greymon is stronger than that other Digimon!"

"Maybe so, but look," Akira pointed to the source of the problem, which was right in front of them. "Greymon can't fly."

XXXXXXX

"Nova Blast!" Valcrist fired again, but he missed. A third attempt, and still the big fireball hit nothing but empty air. The horse Digimon was just too quick in the air, so it's hard for him to hit it.

"Grrrr, stay still why don'tcha!" he growled in frustration. The horse just neighed back at him, annoying him even more.

"Valcrist, use your horns," Taichi suggested.

But the horse maneuvered away, out of Valcrist's reach. "Grrrrrr, he's makin' fun of me!" he said, getting angry. Taichi was concerned. The horse could dodge Valcrist's attacks with ease up in the air, and Greymon's breath attacks, although more destructive, take more time to fire than the horse's.

"Aerial Attack!" the horse blasted from way up above, and the ball of air had no problem hitting the big dinosaur. Taichi knew that was another problem: Greymon's size. Without question, with the bigger size Valcrist was much tougher, but it also made him a much easier target to hit. Add in the fact that his opponent could fire off more shots in a period of time than Valcrist could and Taichi suddenly found himself in the middle of a battle with dreadful odds.

"Oh, crud..." he said to himself.


	9. The Boy and the Bug

Chapter 9: The Boy and the Bug

From the sidelines, Akira could do nothing as he watched Taichi and the now-digivolved Valcrist get rained on by a barrage of high-pressure air balls courtesy of the winged and horned white horse they were fighting. Akira wanted to run outside and do something to help them, but he knew that without Zamber's help he'd just get in the way. And Zamber was in no condition to fight.

_This isn't going well..._ he thought. He peeked to his right and saw that Sora was looking at the battlefield with worried eyes as she held on close to her also-unconscious Digimon partner, Riella the Biyomon.

Akira looked at Taichi and Valcrist again. Even though as a Greymon Valcrist was much more powerful, he couldn't land a single hit on his opponent, because it was just too fast, too nimble. And it could fly, so every big ball of fire that Valcrist shoots at it were easily dodged.

For its part, the horse didn't hesitate in shooting out its own attacks, and though Valcrist managed to take each hit, Akira knew it was just a matter of time before the flying horse wears him out. And when that happens, both Taichi and Valcrist will be left defenseless.

"We need to do something, fast." Akira said, hoping for an opportunity. The next minute, his eyes landed on two small shapes that were walking up towards the field they were in. They were walking on the same path that he, Taichi, Zamber and Valcrist had hiked through earlier that morning.

"Who the..." he started to say as he spotted the shapes, who were just standing there for now, right before Sora yelled "Hey, that's Koshiro!"

XXXXXXX

"Do you think any of my friends could be up here, Reye?" a young boy asked as he made his way up the mountainside. The person, or rather, Digimon he asked was a red bug of sorts.

"Of course, Koshiro!" the bug, Reye, replied cheerfully while walking alongside the red-headed boy. "Mt. Panorama is big, so at least one of your friends **must** be around here somewhere."

"Are you sure about that?" the boy, Koshiro, asked him skeptically, suspicion in his eyes.

"Trust me. I'm never wrong," Reye said proudly. A few moments later, they entered a huge grassy field. It was a very open space, but to Koshiro the main highlight of the place was the large orange dinosaur far away.

"Whoa! Is that a Digimon too?" Koshiro asked as he put his right hand over his eyes, trying to get a better glimpse.

Reye opened the wings on his back and hovered in the air. "Why yes, that is indeed. That's a Greymon right there, a Champion Digimon."

"You mean like the Snimon that terrorized us all day long yesterday?" he said as he recalled the previous day, which was mostly spent running away from a large green praying mantis-like Digimon known as Snimon. Koshiro had asked Reye to talk with the Snimon, as they were both insects and should be able to connect. In the space of six seconds, the bigger bug proved him wrong.

"Let's just forget about that one," Reye responded. "Hey wait, I see something else. Something beneath the Greymon over there," he said as he hovered higher. "I think, yes, I was right!"

"What, what? What do you see?" Koshiro asked in suspense.

"It's a human being, standing alongside the Greymon!" Reye said excitedly. "It must be one of your friends, so that Greymon has to be his partner then."

"Really? Then I've got to get there right now!" Koshiro said as he quickly ran to the big shape that is the orange dinosaur.

"Heeey, wait for me," Reye followed him while flying in the air.

XXXXXXX

For half a minute now, things had been quiet. The horse had flown away again, too high and far to be seen by the naked eye. Taichi had been standing near Valcrist's legs and under his stomach so that the horse couldn't attack him, but so far things hadn't been good. None of his partner's attacks had landed, and if things keep going the way they are now, Taichi knew they would lose.

"Hey Valcrist, you okay?" he asked his partner, concerned that he had been taking all the shots.

"Don't worry Taichi. I can take much more than this," Valcrist said confidently, his big mouth curved into a smile and showing off all his sharp, pointy fangs.

"But I don't want you to take more. We can't let this go on."

"Neither do I, but what can we do?" Valcrist asked, who scanned the sky for any signs of the return of the flying horse.

Taichi was thinking the exact same thing when he heard someone call his name loudly. "Taaaichiiiiii!" he looked out to the front and his eyes fell on a short boy wearing an orange shirt, yellow gloves and brownish-green shorts. He had a laptop case on his back. Taichi immediately recognized him.

In any other scenario, Taichi would be really glad to see him, but right now, he merely yelled "Koshiro! Get back! Get out of here!" and waved his arms in the air. However, the younger kid doesn't seem to get the message as he continued to run towards him and Valcrist. Something red was following him from behind, but Taichi couldn't focus on that right now.

"Koshiroooo! Get away!" he warned, but it was no use. The next second there was a shout "Aerial Attack!" and a ball of pressurized air shot down on his friend.

"Koshiroooo!" Taichi yelled. Valcrist turned to his right and spotted the attacker. "Nova Blast!" he shouted as he let loose a large ball of fire that again missed its mark.

"Darn it!" Valcrist growled. The horse was now sailing in the air in a wide circle and shot out its Aerial Attack repeatedly, raining hell on the four targets that was underneath it.

XXXXXXX

Koshiro felt his knee had been scraped by the ground when Reye knocked him down from behind, saving him from the blast that had come seemingly out of nowhere. He looked up to see a horse-like shape flying around in the sky, opening its mouth and blasting air balls all around him.

"Koshiro, are you alright?" Reye asked as he grabbed Koshiro's hand and hauled him up.

"I think so, but what's going on?" he replied as he got up, rubbing his left cheek on which he landed.

"It would seem we've walked into a battle," Reye explained while flying towards the boy in blue with the goggles underneath the Greymon. "Come on, we've got to get to your friend." Koshiro followed suit, avoiding the impact all around him as he ran.

As he was nearing them, however, he noticed that behind the dinosaur there was a small indentation on the mountain face, like a small cave. In it, he could see another one of his friends, a girl named Sora. She was standing beside a boy that was wearing blue clothes like Taichi, and Koshiro doesn't recognize this person.

"Aerial Attack!" and a ball of high-pressure air crashed **right in front of him,** right between him and Taichi. The impact was so close and powerful that it knocked Reye backwards and he knocked into Koshiro and they both went sprawling to the ground to the right, away from Taichi and the dinosaur.

"Uurrgh, that hurt," Koshiro heard Reye moan in pain. He saw Taichi made to run to him but was constantly blocked by their attacker. All Taichi could do was take shelter beneath the Digimon called Greymon. It appears the horse was preventing them from grouping together so it could take them down one at a time.

"Wait, but that means-" he looked up in panic to confirm his thoughts: the horse was now heading right for him and Reye! It made sense, since they're now the most vulnerable targets for it to attack. He instinctively held up his arms to protect him, and he saw Reye fly above and in front of him, shielding Koshiro.

"Aerial..."

"Super Thunder Strike!" Koshiro heard something crackle, and from the corner of his eye he could've sworn he saw lightning shot out from where Sora and the other boy was standing.

XXXXXXX

The lightning bolt hit the horse's right wing and that imbalanced its flight, and also canceled its attack. Valcrist wasted no time and immediately attacked.

"Nova Blast!" and this time the big flaming ball hit the horse, although indirectly: it only hit its hind legs. Nevertheless, the horse was hurt and it flew up, away from Koshiro and what must be his partner Digimon.

Upon seeing the familiar lightning shot, Taichi shot a look back to see the red-and-blue Elecmon up and charging out of the cave. Zamber was awake!

"Taichi!" he shouted. "I'll distract the Unimon, you and Valcrist go and protect that other kid and his partner!"

"The what?" Taichi shouted back.

"That Digimon! It's a Unimon, and apparently a very powerful one. I'll draw its fire and you get to your friend," Zamber ordered as he ran away, to the far right of the field, near to the path downhill on which they descended earlier to find Sora.

"Oh, gotcha!" Taichi nodded. "Valcrist, let's go!" and they went to make sure Koshiro and his partner were okay.

"Hey Koshiro, are you alright?" Taichi asked him when they got to his side. "You didn't get hit, did you?"

"Taichi! Oh man, am I glad to see you!" the younger boy answered. "What's going on here? Who's that Digimon? Why is it attacking you?"

"That's a Unimon, Koshiro," Reye answered before Taichi could. "He's also a Champion-level Digimon, but something's weird. Unimon are usually gentle Digimon; they don't normally attack other Digimon like this without a reason."

"Oh, meet Reye the Tentomon, my partner," he introduced them to the red-and-black ladybug-shaped Digimon beside him, and Taichi introduced them to Valcrist the Agumon, err, well, a Greymon right now to be precise.

"So did you do something to him? Like steal his food?" Koshiro asked again.

"What? Of course not!" Taichi said, looking offended. "Why would I steal anyone's food?"

"I dunno," Koshiro shrugged, "you did stuff like that back at camp."

"You did?" Valcrist asked, astounded. Taichi's face turned red.

"Uh, you know about that?" he asked sheepishly.

"Of course, everyone in our group knows!" Koshiro responded like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Well, except Takeru, perhaps," he added.

"Whoops," Taichi mumbled as he scratched the side of his head comically.

"Uhh guys, is this really the time to be talking about things like that?" Reye asked them. He pointed to the other side of the field and saw that the Unimon and the Elecmon were trading blows at each other, the Unimon flying around in the air.

"Right, we gotta help!" said Taichi.

"Nova Blast!" Valcrist shot again and the fireball hit the distracted Unimon indirectly again. He neighed in pain but didn't fall down. "Grrragh, it's hard to get a good aim when he's so far away."

"Then I'll help!" Reye zoomed in the air past Taichi and Valcrist, directly to the Champion-level horse Digimon. "Super Shocker!" he shouted, and from his back came an orange lightning bolt. It missed the Unimon and he returned fire with his own Aerial Attack. The blow hit home and Reye fell down.

"Reeyeee!" Koshiro shouted from afar as Reye was fluttering down. He was too preoccupied to see a white light beginning to be emitted from a white device pinned onto his laptop case's strap.

Taichi, Koshiro and Valcrist ran to the little bug, with Valcrist shooting another big fireball that the Unimon dodged again. A Super Thunder Strike attack from behind the Unimon also missed, and he swerved midair to face the Elecmon. He opened his mouth as Zamber charged up, sparks criss-crossing his nine tails.

Taichi's eyed widened. "They're gonna attack each other," he mumbled right as he detected movement from somewhere to his far right.

"Aerial Attack!" the Unimon shouted, and the attack passed by the Super Thunder Strike that Zamber launched at the exact same time. The lightning bolt hit the Unimon square on the chest and he squealed and was pushed back.

While the Rookie Digimon was body-slammed out of the way by someone that ran to him at the very last second. They both fell down and slipped and fell down the mountainside, rolling down quickly and painfully away from the site of battle.

"Akira!" Taichi screamed. "Zamber!"

As for Koshiro, he immediately went to his fallen partner. "Reye, are you okay?"

"Must... protect Koshiro," Reye mumbled. "Need... more... energy..."

And then it happened again. A flash, and suddenly Reye found himself surrounded by a ball of bright white light.

"Woah! What's happening?" Koshiro exclaimed.

"Tentomon digivolves to... Kabuterimon!"

For a moment Koshiro couldn't see anything since the light came without warning, until the light vanished and he could only see a very large blue bug had taken his partner's place. The big blue bug had something like a metal mask over its head, and a great big horn was protruding out of it.

Without hesitation, the Kabuterimon ascended into the air and flew straight to the Unimon, raising its horn and shouting "Beetle Horn Attack!", but the Unimon managed to get out of its away at the last second.

"Gah! How can that thing keep moving so fast after launching so many attacks at us? Doesn't that thing ever get tired?" Taichi shouted in frustration.

"Taichi, the black gear," Valcrist suddenly remembered. "What if... what if that gear we saw is responsible for this? That may be what's causing the Unimon to attack us."

Taichi stared at the flying horse, now looking worn out from all the hits it had taken. Taichi wondered how it could keep on attacking, and when he saw the gear that was lodged on its back - and the air of evil it exuded - he knew Valcrist was right.

"Koshiro, tell Reye to attack Unimon's back. Tell him to aim for the thing on it!" he said to Koshiro.

"What? Reye? You mean that big blue bug up there?"

Taichi nodded. "Uh-huh. That's your partner Digimon, alright."

Koshiro looked unsure. "Umm, okay, if you say so." He then turned to the big bue bug. "Reye! Aim for Unimon's back and attack whatever's on it!"

The Kabuterimon understood, and flew over above the Unimon. He folded its four arms, and from out of nowhere a giant ball of **purple electricity** formed. "Electro Shocker!" and the electrical ball shot out and hit the Unimon's back. The Unimon howled in pain as the electrical ball was seemingly forcibly pulling something out of its back.

Taichi and the others watched in awe as a jet-black gear was released from the Unimon's back and flew through the air, and suddenly it simply vanished into thin air! _D__isintegrated into pieces,_ Koshiro thought.

The Unimon fell to the ground and didn't move. To Taichi, he seemed to have collapsed, more out of pain than exhaustion. And just like that, the battle was over, but Akira and Zamber were gone.


	10. Rescue

Chapter 10: Rescue

Everyone neared the unconscious Unimon, where Taichi and Valcrist, who had already shrunk back to an Agumon, were standing. Sora was still holding the unconscious Riella in her hands, and Reye was still in his Champion form, Kabuterimon. Taichi breathed hard.

"Hhh... hhh... We finally beat him." He said, looking at his recently-appeared friend and the big blue bug beside him. "All thanks to your rescue."

Koshiro smiled. "No problem!" Then he turned his attention to the Unimon. "But, what happened? Why was this Digimon so aggressive?"

"No idea," Sora answered. "It just appeared out of nowhere and started firing at us."

"That's impossible," Reye suddenly stepped forward, surprising Taichi. "I've seen some Unimon before. They are kind and gentle Digimon, and they don't attack without a reason."

"Well, this one sure did," Sora commented.

"I don't think so, Sora," Taichi said. "When we were fighting him, me and Valcrist saw something on his back. It was kinda like a black gear. I think that's what made the Unimon attack us."

"Uh-huh, I saw it too," Reye agreed. "The moment I laid my eyes on it, I could feel something was weird with it. Like it was something_..._ **evil."**

Everyone was silent for a while. It was Valcrist who broke the silence. "You have eyes?" he asked, directing the question at Reye. All of them looked up to observe the Kabuterimon and, indeed, he had no visible eyes!

"It was a figure of speech, Valcrist," Reye replied calmly. Valcrist looked disappointed. "Oh."

Koshiro went on. "Okay, so you think that that black gear somehow hypnotized the Unimon and made it attack you, Sora, and that other boy?"

Taichi nodded. "Akira. And his Digimon partner, Zamber." He walked to the edge where they both fell and tried to see them, but no luck. Those two were out of sight. After all, it was a long way down. Taichi closed his eyes and hoped they were alright. Was it possible they didn't make it?

"Taichi?" Sora asked gently from behind. "What do you think we should do now?"

He opened his eyes and looked back to appraise all of them. Sora looks worried, Riella was still out cold, Koshiro understands little about the digivolution that just took place, Valcrist was exhausted and he himself was weary. Taichi breathed in.

"We have to look for Akira and Zamber, but we're gonna have to get off this mountain."

"You mean circle round the back? Go back from where we came?" asked Valcrist. Taichi "uh-huh"ed, nodding.

"Why?" Koshiro asked. "Reye can fly; he can easily go down there and search for them." This time Taichi shook his head.

"No can do. Right now, he's the only one who has the strength to fight off any other Digimon that might come and try to blast us into smithereens. We're going to need him here at all times."

"But Taichi..." Sora started, but he knew what she was going to say.

"Sorry Sora, but unlike Birdramon, Kabuterimon can't fly people around. Look at him; he just wasn't built for it." He then looked at Reye apologetically. "No offense."

"None taken," Reye responded coolly.

She was silent for a few moments, but then smiled. "I get it. You're right, Taichi." He was glad she understood.

"So what do we do about him?" asked Reye. He was looking (maybe) at the Unimon.

"I know he might just be an innocent victim of some sort of evil brainwashing, but carrying him with us is out of the question. Finding our friends is our top priority right now. That includes Akira and Zamber," Taichi answered, surprisingly stern.

Koshiro said, "I guess you're right."

Taichi nodded. "Well then, let's go." And he lead the group away, towards the path downhill, through the all the bulbous vegetation they passed earlier, with Reye hovering above all of them. Valcrist was walking near the Champion Digimon.

"So seriously, **do **you have eyes?"

XXXXXXX

Somewhere in a jungle, away from the mountains, a girl was running.

"Poison Ivy!" something green shouted, and from it came shooting out long tendrils of colorful ivy that wrapped themselves around a big yellow creature. It fell down.

"Aaaaaaahhh noooo, get away from me!" the girl screamed while running away.

"Come back, Mimi! You have to stay by my side!" the green thing called out to the girl, but she didn't stop. "Hey, Mimi!"

The girl stopped short of her tracks a second later as her path got blocked by two more of the creatures. "Nooooooo!" she screamed as she closed her eyes and grabbed her big pink hat tightly.

"Poison Ivy, **widespread!**" a voice rang out beside her, and she opened her eyes to see the two yellow dragonfly-like Digimon being held firmly in place - while hovering in the air - by ivies. She looked to her side and saw a green humanoid plant with colorful petals on top of it and, oddly, a mouth with fangs and a short tail. The ivies came from the plant's hands.

"Uurrgh, you Yanmamon won't get the best of me. I won't let you hurt Mimi!" the plant Digimon exclaimed while holding the Yanmamon in place. The Yanmamon pair squirmed and struggled to get free, but it looked like the ivies the plant trapped them in were laced with toxin, because the girl saw they were getting weaker and weaker until they finally dropped to the ground, unmoving.

She was about to let out a breath when suddenly **more Yanmamon **came rushing at high speed, and in no time at all they were completely surrounded. The loud buzzing of their wings filled the afternoon air.

"Oh no! There's no way out!" the girl in red clothes cried out. "Viana, do something!"

Viana the plant stayed silent, her expression serious. The two were in the middle, with Yanmamon in front of them, behind them, above them, and to all their sides. The swarm they had spent the whole day running away from had finally caught up. There were at least fifteen of them.

"This is bad," she said. She was strong enough to take down one or two of these things at a time - they are, after all, weak Champion-level Digimon - but not when they gang up like this. This is exactly why Viana hated bugs.

The Yanmamon were coming close from all sides now, the buzz of their wings was deafening. "Viana, protect me!" the brunette in red yelled in fear.

Viana geared up and got ready for the worst. "Poison..." she readied herself when suddenly there was ruffling in the grass to their left.

"Howling Blaster!" and an unbelievable wave of **blue fire** shot out and completely engulfed three Yanmamon beside Mimi and Viana. The attack came so fast that its sheer presence surprised Mimi more than the actual heat of the blast. She yelled "Gyaaah!" in surprise.

Viana, however, was quick to react and took the opportunity to launch a powerful Poison Ivy attack on a Yanmamon in front of her, paralyzing it with her poison. And then, a shadow leaped out of the bushes and ran towards the swarm of yellow dragonflies. "Slamming Attack!" and a body slam knocked down a Yanmamon behind Mimi and Viana.

Some of the Yanmamon above retaliated. "Thunder Ray!" they fired, aimed at the mysterious intruder, but the large white beast moved around all the attacks, the Thunder Rays hitting nothing but ground and trees and stones.

Another Howling Blaster and two more Yanmamon fell. More Thunder Ray attacks and some rocks exploded and tree branches caught fire. Viana joined the mayhem and launched toxin-filled Poison Ivy attacks at other groups of Yanmamon.

Mimi, the girl in red, crouched where she stood and cowered in terror. "Nooooooo! I don't wanna die yet! I'm still too young to go!"

"We're not dead yet, Mimi. Look!" Viana called out to her amidst all the fighting.

"No no no! I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die I'm gonna die I'm gonna die!" she kept screaming in fear, which really annoyed Viana.

"Mimi! We're saved, so just open your eyes and stop yelling!"

"What?" the girl said disbelievingly, not daring to look.

"Mimi! Come on!" a familiar voice suddenly came from somewhere near her. When she heard the voice, Mimi opened her eyes and saw a blonde boy in a green sleeveless shirt and blue pants. He was sitting on top of a large white wolf-like thing with blue stripes over its fur. It had pink claws and a long curly tail.

"Yamato!" she exclaimed, and suddenly she feels relieved. She's saved!

"Thunder Ray!" and a streak of lightning struck the ground behind her, and it made her skin crawl with shock.

"Mimi, get on! Hurry!" Yamato commanded with an intense expression. He held out his hand towards her. "We're getting out of here **now!**"

At the same time, the wolf he was riding on opened its mouth and shot "Howling Blaster!" at an approaching Yanmamon, growling fiercely afterwards. With all the jolts of lightning and blue fire being launched this way and that, Mimi had no choice but to quickly grab her friend's outstretched hand.

"Let's go!" Mimi said, but Yamato was focused on something else.

"Wait, your Digimon partner. Call it here!" he said, pointing at Viana who was still fending off the Yanmamon.

"What? Oh, uh, yeah, sure." She got past Yamato and sat behind him. "Leave it to me. You tell this Digimon to go right now!"

Yamato looked uncertain, but he trusted Mimi knew what she was doing. "Gravlos, get us out of here!"

The wolf Digimon shot out one final breath of blue flames before tensing its legs and then ran off. Yamato looked at Mimi with apprehension. "But what about-"

"Viana! Reach out to me!" she shouted loudly, her hat hanging on her neck to her back. The plant Digimon sharply turned its back on the Yanmamon, saying "Bye, fellas!" and shot out its Poison Ivy at Mimi. She grabbed it.

"Yamato, help me pull her in." And he did. With their combined strength they managed to pull Viana towards them, and suddenly the three of them were riding on the white wolf's back, running away from the swarm of big, yellow, lightning-launching dragonflies.

The Yanmamon wasted no time and shot after them, and their high speed chase began.

XXXXXXX

Earlier that day...

Two shapes are rolling down a cliff side, tumbling and stumbling and heading down ever so quickly. Beneath them was a sea of treetops.

Akira had knocked Zamber out of the way of Unimon's high-pressure air blast at the last second, and unintentionally made them fall down the mountainside, the painful way.

"Zamber!" he shouted.

"Akira!" his partner, Zamber the Elecmon, shouted back.

"Hang on!" Akira tried to get a grip on the rocky cliff face with his gloved hand, and miraculously managed to do it. With his free hand he tried to catch his partner, reaching out as far as he could, but fate didn't help him this time as he missed Zamber and the small Digimon continued plummeting below.

"Zamber! Dammit, I missed him!" Akira cursed.

"Akiraaaaaaaaaaa!" Zamber shouted, his eyes wide with fear.

Without thinking, Akira **kicked the cliff face **on where he hung and** did a backflip in the air,** effectively propelling himself downwards faster than Zamber. "Hold on, buddy!" he said as he wrapped his right arm around the Elecmon's body, at the same time as they hit leaves and branches. They had burst through the canopy, and it was a long way down to the ground.

Akira used his body to shield his partner from the oncoming rush of wood. "Ow, urgh, gyaargh, errgh, ouch, woa, heaa, raaagh!" random sounds of pain Akira muttered, before finally he caught a tree branch with his left hand and their fall came to a sudden halt. A very painful taut on Akira's part.

But before they could even breathe, the branch suddenly went SNAP and broke off the tree. Akira and Zamber fell again, and crash-landed on something bulgy.

The boom of their fall echoed throughout the woods. "Uuuugh. That... really hurt." Akira moaned in agony while doubling over in pain, when what he and Zamber fell on moved and got up.

"Ugh. What the heck just fell from the sky?" the big green thing barked.

"STRAVEL?"


	11. Big, Mean and Green

Chapter 11: Big, Mean and Green

"It's you punks!" Stravel the Ogremon shouted in surprise after Akira and Zamber had fallen on top of him. "Where did you two come from?"

Akira immediately tried to stand and run, but a searing pain shot throughout his whole body. "Aaaaargh, grrrrrh!" he clattered his teeth as he fell on his knees, right in front of the ogre.

Seeing the boy in front of him was seriously hurt, a malicious smile quickly formed on Stravel's face. "Well well well, it looks like fate has given you up to me," He said, knocking his big bone club in his left hand. "It's payback time!" and he raised the bone...

...when suddenly he was headbutted from behind by Zamber, knocking him off balance.

"Run Akira! Run!" Zamber shouted while charging up his tails.

Stravel turned back, annoyed. "So, I'm gonna have to pound **you** up first, eh? No problem. Bone Cudgel!" he used his bone club and delivered a smack in a slapping motion to Zamber's left cheek, hard. Zamber went flying and hit a tree.

"Zamber! No!" Akira screamed in terror, his eyes widened. But then "UAGH!"; he was kicked in the gut by Stravel.

"He he he. I'm going to enjoy this," he said as he picked Akira up. "Take this..." he was preparing to punch when all of a sudden, "Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**" came and hit him at the back of his head. The shock forced him to drop Akira and the boy groaned in pain.

Stravel held the back of his head. "Grrrr, you think that was funny? Nobody, and I mean NOBODY interrupts me, Stravel the Ogremon!" he shouted and dashed off to where Zamber was standing.

"Akira! Get out of here!" Zamber ordered, but Akira was in no shape to go anywhere soon. He could only watch helplessly.

"Get out of the way, Zamber!" he shouted as Stravel raised his left hand, a purple air surrounding it.

"Pummel Whack!" and he punched the air, a dark purple energy shooting out of it and went straight for Zamber, who jumped out of the way at the last second.

"Leave us alone, Stravel!" Zamber exclaimed. "We don't wanna fight you."

"But I do!" Stravel replied as he quickstepped to Zamber. "Bone Cudgel!" and he used his bone to hit Zamber again, this time in a stabbing fashion. "How do ya like that?"

"Uuurggghh..." Zamber retreated. "That hurt."

Stravel neared him. "Look at this." He pointed at his face. There was a burn mark on the left side of his face. "Don't tell me you've forgotten that you're responsible for this."

Zamber was quiet for a while. "Well, you attacked us first, remember?"

"And let's not forget the fact you beat up my Goblin Gang, too!"

"Why should we be sorry about that?"

There was a moment of silence as both sides pondered this question.

"Enough talk!" Stravel suddenly barked, and then he dashed towards his foe. "Prepare for pain: Pummel Whack!" he launched another energy-fist, and again Zamber dodged it.

But Stravel kept running and the next second he was on top of the Rookie Digimon. "Bone Cudgel!" and he swung down on Zamber. The blow connected and Zamber knelt on his four feet.

"Uuuugghhhhh!" Zamber muttered, but before he could even stand up Stravel kicked him in the face.

"Stooooooooop!" Akira shouted, trying desperately to stand up. "Stop that!"

Stravel glanced back, and made a mean face. "Oh yeah? Make me."

He turned his attention back to Zamber. "Pummel Whack!" and the Elecmon was launched into the air and flung far.

"Hahahahahahaha, this is too easy!" he laughed evilly. "You two are too weak to fight back!"

"Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**" A large lightning bolt shot out from where Zamber landed to where Stravel was standing, but the Champion Digimon simply splayed its left hand and took the hit with his palm, unfazed.

"Wow. That itches," he said calmly. Zamber ran towards him.

"Alright then, Lightning Knife!" and this time three small blades of electricity shot out at Stravel. He sidestepped to avoid them and kicked the left side of Zamber's body, soccer style. Zamber squealed in pain and rolled over.

"Hiahahahahaha!" Stravel cackled as he raised his right hand and was about to walk towards his fallen opponent.

"Hey." Someone tapped his right shouder. Stravel looked back.

His face was met with Akira's left fist.

OOOOOOO

Akira was worried, but his furious expression hid that worry as Stravel was knocked back by his full-power left hook.

"Damn, I think my hand's broken now..." Akira mumbled to himself.

To add to his concerns, the blow just then didn't even knock Stravel down, only pushed him back. Stravel recovered quickly.

"Oh, that was good. So you still have the strength to fight, eh?" Stravel grinned mercilessly. "Then come..." he held up his left hand - knuckles outward - and moved his fingers back and forward, challenging Akira, "...and get some."

Akira jumped at him and struck Stravel's chest with his left shoulder. He threw a right uppercut and a palm thrust, then backstepped right as Stravel punched back, missing Akira by millimeters.

"Bone Cudgel!" Stravel growled as he swung his bone club over and over again, and Akira did all he could to dodge it. Right step, right step, left step, duck and two quick jabs to the stomach. The blows connected but Stravel kept standing.

Stravel countered by raising his left knee to meet Akira's chin, but Akira turned his head just in time. He kicked the ground and launched himself backwards, and then skipped back to get some distance. Stravel chased after him, still swinging his bone.

"Hhh... hhh... hhh..." Akira was losing control of his breath. Finally Stravel hit him on the shoulder and that blow imbalanced the boy.

"Shoot!"

In no time at all, Stravel was above Akira. "Gotcha!" and he punched with his left hand. Again Akira ducked and immediately raised his head to headbutt the Digimon on his chin. The blow found its mark and now it was Stravel who was imbalanced.

"Hngggh!" he growled, but Stravel's right hand dropped his bone and he managed to use it to land a punch on Akira, who fell clutching his chest. Stravel then grabbed hold of Akira's neck.

"Heh. He he he. You lose, kid," said Stravel, tightening his grip on Akira's neck and choking him.

"Hhh... hhh... Urgh. Uhuk uhuk..." Akira coughed. His chest was hurting and he could hardly breathe. Was this the end? He looked past Stravel and retorted, "Not yet, ugly!" and he jerked both his legs down and stomped on Stravel's feet.

"OWW!" Stravel howled in pain and he released Akira from his grip. Akira quickly delivered a vicious backhand with his right forearm to Stravel's face and the ogre Digimon staggered back.

"Heaarrrghh! You little brat!" he exclaimed right as he was hit from behind by electricity. "Super Thunder Strike!" and he was pushed forward.

"What the...? Grrrraaaahhh, stop messing with me!" he bellowed loudly. "I'll beat you worthless weaklings to bloody, messy pulps!"

"Just try!" Akira exclaimed as he put his two hands together and used it to hit Stravel's chin as if he were swinging a mace. It hit home hard and Stravel was forced to turn one hundred and eighty degrees. He was met with Zamber who was, amazingly, **in the air!** Zamber had hopped in place and now he was at the same height with the Ogremon's face. Sparks flew.

"NINE TAILS!" and Zamber slammed his electrically-charged backside as hard as he could against Stravel's face. He was electrically shocked.

"Huaaarrgghhhh!" screamed Stravel as the force of the hit pushed him back again. Suddenly the back of his legs hit something hard and he stumbled and fell on his back. Stravel back-rolled and acrobatically leapt up again, to see that Akira was crouching and that made him trip.

But beyond the boy, the Elecmon. "Super Thunder Strike, **triple charge!**" and a **huge** lightning bolt shot out, sparking and crackling and went straight towards him! It struck him in the chest and Stravel flew far, spinning in the air before hitting the mountain face.

"Uhk." He fell, but managed to punch the ground to keep himself up.

"Zamber..." Akira gathered his energy to speak. "...up above..."

Zamber didn't need to be told twice; he knew what his human partner was referring to. "Lightning Knife!" he shouted. Three blades of electricity came rushing from his tails to the trees above Stravel and each of those knives hit many branches.

The attack severed the branches and they fell, crashing down on Stravel. "Hyaaaaarrrrggghhh!" Stravel screamed as all those wood piled up on him. He laid on the ground but couldn't get up. The stack of broken branches were too heavy for him to lift.

"Now's our chance," Zamber said to Akira, who was still on all fours. "Grab hold of me, Akira."

Akira slung his right arm around Zamber and squatted. "Right, thanks partner. Let's get out of here before he gets up."

And the duo ran off, leaving the Ogremon under the heavy pile of wood. "Hey! Come back here! We're not done! Gaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrggghhhhh!"


	12. Get Stronger!

Chapter 12: Get Stronger!

Akira limped with the help of Zamber underneath his arms. The fight with Stravel earlier had taken a lot out of him, especially that one punch to the chest. After they were sure they were far enough, they took shelter in a big cave at the foot of the mountain.

"Hhh... hhh... " Akira muttered. He was too tired, and as soon as Zamber laid him down he pressed his back against the cave wall and closed his eyes. Not long after he fell asleep.

Zamber looked at his human partner sadly. He felt really guilty; after all, it was his job to protect Akira from the dangers here at all cost. Yet he couldn't do anything back there. He was too weak, too powerless, and he let Stravel beat him around with little effort.

The little Rookie Digimon looked up at the sky, and as the gray clouds rolled together he clenched his teeth in anger. _Why am I so weak?_ If only he had more power, he could've done his job better. Now, due to his own lack of power, Akira had to pay the price.

And to think, just yesterday he was telling Akira about how he was an especially strong Elecmon. _Who am I kidding? At the end of the day, I'm still just a Rookie-level Digimon. And I can't digivolve when my partner needs me to, unlike Valcrist,_ he thought

As raindrops started to slowly fall, Zamber sat down. He hated himself for being weak, but he hated bullies and thugs like Stravel and his stupid Goblin Gang even more. Digimon who attack others only for their own pleasure with no remorse.

"I will never forgive him," Zamber murmured. "I have to get stronger! I WILL get stronger! To protect Akira and everyone else I can, I swear to get stronger! And the next time I see Stravel," he avowed, "I will personally make sure he can't hurt anyone else. I'll end his life if I have to!"

XXXXXXX

Mimi and Viana the plant looked back at the swarm of yellow dragonflies rushing through the trees, chasing after the big white wolf they were riding on. Yamato was on the front.

"Yamato, they're catching up to us!" Mimi shouted in panic.

The blond boy looked back. "So they are," he murmured, right as the swarm launched multiple Thunder Ray attacks at them.

Quick as a bullet, the wolf reacted by running while sidestepping left and right and left and right, the attacks nearly hitting it. The thunderbolts hit instead large rocks and tree barks, and on one occasion a tree branch in front of them that the wolf leaped over.

_This ride's getting too bumpy for comfort. _Yamato thought as they landed and continued running. He turned to Mimi. "Mimi, try to slow them down with your partner's help."

Mimi was confused. "Slow them down? But how?"

More thunderbolts, one of them sizzling past Yamato's head. He could feel a small current of electricity run through his head.

"I dunno, just do something!"

"Like what?"

But Yamato didn't answer and he turned his attention back to the front, trying to navigate his Digimon partner and tell him where to run to.

Mimi stared at her own partner. The plant stared back.

"Can you do something?" she asked. "But don't use your Poison Ivy attack, 'cause you might get tangled and fall overboard." Viana nodded.

"I'll try my best," she replied, and then she inhaled, focused, and opened the petals on her head as wide as she could. "Stench Attack!"

All of a sudden, a foul-smelling odor was emitted from Viana, and since they were running fast the odor traveled back, leaving a trail of unpleasant stench for the Yanmamon to fly through.

The attack worked, and most of the Yanmamon stopped in their tracks and hovered wildly in the air. It seems like they were holding parts of their faces that could be noses with something resembling hands. They definitely can't stand the smell. Unfortunately, neither can the passengers aboard the wolf Digimon.

"AWW! YUCK!" Mimi shouted in horror. "Viana, that is DISGUSTING!" Indeed, even Yamato had his hand over his mouth and nose, and Mimi could've sworn she heard the wolf cough a little. "Stop that, pleeeaaaase!"

"Aaahhh, sorry sorry sorry. Alright I'll stop it now!" Viana retracted her petals quickly, and soon the odor was only lingering in the air.

"Ugghhh, how come you have that kind of yucky stench in you? Don't you ever bathe?" Mimi complained while pinching her nose and waving in the air, trying to get rid of the remaining scent. "Not befitting of a partner of someone like me!"

Viana was stunned, and she bowed her head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry, Mimi."

Mimi looked at the plant. She considered closing her eyes and folding her arms like an arrogant, regal queen, but then just simply smiled. "Try not to do that again. I have a sensitive nose."

Viana blushed. Now she felt really embarrassed after releasing such a foul-smelling smell. Mimi apparently sensed this, so she quickly said, "Do you have any other attacks to hit them with?"

"Umm, let me think." Viana wondered for a moment as they entered a denser part of the jungle, with mangroves growing everywhere. Viana clapped her hands. "Oh, I can try that!" she said to herself, before she faced the rest of the Yanmamon that were still on their (the wolf's) tail.

"Take this: Plant Shock!" and she held out both her palms open facing the Yanmamon. Out of nowhere, a wave of leaves formed and stormed the big dragonflies. Even though they were small, the sheer number of leaves hit them hard, and although it didn't stop them, it slowed them down, giving the wolf more time to put some distance in between.

"That was great!" Mimi exclaimed cheerfully. "Now that's an attack I'd like to see you use more."

"Really? Thanks, Mimi!" Viana smiled at the compliment, when suddenly the ground behind them exploded and bits of dirt flew in every direction.

Mimi and Viana ducked, with Mimi holding onto her hat so the wind wouldn't take it off. She peeked back to see the Yanmamon, farther away but not giving up yet, and desperately launching attacks at the fleeing group.

Another thunderbolt zoomed past Mimi's cheek. "Yamato!" She yelled.

"Gravlos, to your left!" ordered Yamato. "There's a path leading to an opening. Head there!"

"I see it, Yamato," the wolf responded, making a sharp turn and dashed to where Yamato pointed.

"That's the end of Beetle Land," Viana muttered.

"Mimi, hold them off!" Yamato shouted to Mimi.

"Viana!"

"Got it." Viana sat upright. "Plant Shock!" and another wave of leaves shot out at the Yanmamon. But now they were ready, and all of them maneuvered in the air to avoid the plant's attack.

Viana frowned. "Okay, how about this: Plant Shock!" she fired again, but this time she aimed at some of the tree branches. The small leaves sliced the branches and they were cut almost clean through, hanging askew.

"Poison Ivy!" Viana used her ivy-hands to reach out to the cut branches and brought them down on the pursuers. Two of the Yanmamon got hit and fell, but the last three managed to avoid it.

"Hang on!" Yamato shouted. Suddenly, they were flying through the air! For a second Mimi thought she was going to fall and plunge to a bottomless abyss or something, but it turned out that the wolf had made a huge leap and was now soaring over multiple mangrove tree roots. Then it landed smoothly.

"Whoa! That surpised me!" Mimi said, when Viana said "Uhh, guys..." and pointed back. The wolf circled where it stood and they all saw that the remaining Yanmamon had gathered and was now doing nothing but stare at them.

"What're they doing?" asked Yamato as he squinted his eyes to get a better look.

"Well, we're out of their territory now," Viana answered, "so maybe they gave up and now are just... just... looking?"

"So that means we've escaped, right?" Mimi asked hopefully.

"I don't think so... " Yamato mumbled.

OOOOOOO

After their brethren had fallen under heaps of branches, the three remaining Yanmamon still in the game decided to stop chasing and try out a new tactic, a kind of a last ploy, all-or-nothing move.

They huddled together, and focused their energies to merge. Soon, enormous sparks of electricity jumped all over the place all around them, and they could feel the huge power surging within.

They readied themselves, took aim at their target - the two kids, the plant Rookie and the wolf Champion - and fired.

"Thunder Ray, **megavolt!**"

OOOOOOO

Yamato's eyes doubled in size when he saw the attack the Yanmamon launched at them: it was absolutely **massive!** The gigantic ball of thunder, easily the size of a minivan, rushed at them with frightening speed and terrifying force, and it actually rumbled throughout the jungle. Everything on its path was smoldered and a large gaping hole-shape was the only thing it left on its path.

If he doesn't do something, he's toast. They're all toast. But before he could even think of saying anything, his partner did the only thing Yamato would have ordered him to: attack back.

"Howling Blaster, **extreme heat!**" it shouted and opened its mouth. A great wave of absolutely-searing blue fire came out, shot back, and **collided with the thunderball in midair!**

The end result? Expectedly, an explosion, one whose sound reverberated throughout the entire jungle and beyond. The sheer force of the impact was so powerful that everyone was flung back and flew high, soaring though the air again. The group of four was separated and they went wide over the grassy field, until they descended in four different directions.

XXXXXXX

Even though it was a rainy afternoon, Zamber thought he heard a loud boom somewhere. He listened intently for any follow-up sounds, but nothing came up, so he shrugged it off and dismissed it as his own imagination.

Akira hadn't woken up, and Zamber was getting really worried. He knew that Akira was badly hurt, but he couldn't do anything about it. He was also concerned about the fact that they hadn't had anything to eat since this morning, and that he was getting really hungry. _So is Akira, I guess,_ Zamber thought.

He needed to go out and find some food, and normally he would, because a little rain never stops him, but right now it was just **pouring** with water outside. The rain was so heavy that you couldn't even see two meters in front of you. There was no way he could find food in this kind of weather.

Zamber sighed. What good is he as a Digimon partner now? He couldn't protect his human partner, and now he can neither take care of his wounds nor find food for him. Disgusted with his own uselessness, Zamber lay down and tried to get some rest. _At least I should get my energy back...  
_

After a few hours, Zamber woke up. The rain had stopped, but Akira was still asleep. Groggy, Zamber stood up on his four legs and stretched his body, when all of a sudden a shadow crept up at the mouth of the cave.

"Who's there?" Zamber said, alerted, but he was met with a small seal-like Digimon with white fur and reddish hair that runs from the top of its head to its back. There were accentuations of purple in places, and it had black claws at the ends of its flat feet. It was smiling widely.

Zamber raised an eyebrow at this strange sight. "Hey, you're a-"

"-Gomamon, I know," he new guy answered. "I'm awesome that way," he continued as he made his way into the cave.

"Hey wait a sec, whaddya think you're doing?" Zamber proceeded to question the intruder.

"Nice cave you got here, buddy," the Gomamon looked around. "Mind if we stay here for the night? We've been walking around all day and need a place to crash."

Zamber didn't get it. "'We'?"

The Gomamon looked at him, still with that grin on his face. "Yeah, 'we'. Me and my human partner, Joe."


	13. The Green Labyrinth

Chapter 13: The Green Labyrinth

Zamber was surprised when he heard what the Gomamon said. "Human partner? You have a human partner as well?"

"Wait, what?" the Gomamon was also surprised. "'As well'? You too?"

"Yeah, I also have a partner! His name's Akira."

"Really? Whoa, that is totally out of this world!" the newcomer exclaimed cheerfully. "So where is he?"

"Well, he's... currently in bad shape," Zamber replied sadly as he nodded towards the shape slumped against the wall of the cave a little deeper in there.

The Gomamon had a poker face for a while, then hurriedly ran back outside the cave and shouted. "HEY JOE, YOU SLOWPOKE! COME HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Zamber was taken aback by the sudden yelling, which was followed by a series of footsteps as someone neared the cave.

"What?" a voice said in the darkness, and then it materialized as a tall human boy with blue hair and large glasses. He was carrying a grayish-brown bag strapped across his chest. "I'm not slow, it's you that's too fast, Dan!" he continued. "And don't shout in the night, something might come creeping out and get us."

The Gomamon, Dan, rolled his eyes. "Stop being such a worrywart. Anyway, come here quick! Your medical skills are needed."

Joe went inside the cave. "What do you mea-" he stopped when he saw Zamber. "Oh, uhh, hello there. You wouldn't happen to eat meat, would you?" he asked nervously.

Zamber was confused. "Huh?"

It was Dan who explained. "Don't mind him, he's always like this. I mean, yesterday he stupidly hid behind a bush from a silly little..."

"Sssh! Don't mention that!" a panicking Joe interrupted with an embarrassed look, before turning his attention to Zamber. "Anyway, you look harmless enough. So are you the one who's hurt?"

"Not him, his partner," Dan said to Joe. "Over there. One of your friends?"

Joe went over to see who Dan was referring to when he saw the younger boy, sitting deep in sleep. "No, I don't know him, but, oh my..." he mumbled, before he quickly crouched beside Akira and examined him. "He's... hurt pretty bad."

Zamber neared them, and Dan followed. "Umm, could you do something? I think his left arm is in the worst condition."

Joe checked Akira's left arm, massaging it. In a reflexive motion, Akira winced. "Hmm. None of his bones seem to be broken, but I think he might've pulled a muscle or two."

Even in his sleep, Akira moved his left fingers slowly. Joe noticed that, and grabbed Akira's left hand and massaged it gently. In response, Akira groaned in pain.

"Okay, his left hand's broken. Good thing I carry this around," he said while pulling a long bandage from his bag, and also two long narrow blocks of polished wood. He then proceeded to make a makeshift splint.

The two Rookie Digimon just watched Joe at work. Zamber was wide-eyed. "Wow. Your partner's... handy."

Dan smiled smugly. "Heh, yeah, I guess he can be kinda helpful. The guy said he wants to be a doctor."

"I see..." Zamber mumbled, and then he fell silent. Dan must have seen the sadness in his eyes, because he then asked, rather absentmindedly, "Hey, so we haven't properly introduced ourselves. The kooky one there's Joe, and my name's Dan. It's short for something, but I ain't tellin' ya, so don't ask."

"I'm Zamber, and that's Akira," Zamber aswered.

"So what happened to you guys? Got into a fight and bit off more than you could chew?"

"Actually, we were attacked. And I wasn't strong enough to protect my partner. We barely got away," Zamber said with a slight conviction in his voice, when suddenly his stomach rang out in a growl. He had forgotten the fact that he hadn't eaten all day. Dan raised his eyebrows.

"Well, sounds like somebody's got the munchies." He smirked.

Zamber was embarrassed. "Umm, well..."

"Say no more, Dan to the rescue!" the Gomamon said as he reached into Joe's bag and pulled out some weird shiny things. He tossed them to Zamber, grabbed one himself and peeled it.

"Joe says this is a chocolate bar. It's supposed to give ya an energy boost, but you gotta unwrap it first." Then he took a large bite out of it and chewed happily.

Zamber sat on his bum and took one in his paws. He had never seen anything like it. He took off the paper wrapping it and stared at the brown lump, which smelled sweet. But he didn't eat it and put it down.

"Something wrong, pal?" Dan asked. Zamber was silent again.

"Oh, nothing. It's just, I think it's better if this is saved for Akira when he wakes up. He needs it more than me. He also hadn't had anything to eat."

Dan looked at the Elecmon sympathetically. He then threw the rest of the chocolate in his paw to his mouth, then grabbed the bar Zamber put down and shoved it into the latter's mouth, much to Zamber's surprise.

"Sheesh, stop feelin' sorry for yourself. It ain't gonna help nobody, pal, trust me," he said.

Zamber chewed and started to complain. "But..." before he was cut off.

"No buts!" Dan said strictly, and then he smiled a little. "You better finish this up quick, and then we'll look for some food for poor Akira after that. Whaddya say?"

Zamber smiled back, hugely relieved. "Alright. Thank you!"

XXXXXXX

Earlier on, after a certain huge ball of thunder met a certain hot wave of blue fire, four figures were sailing through the air in different directions.

"Aaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh!" all of them yelled in unison, before there was a blinding flash of light enveloping them and suddenly each of them couldn't see any of the others.

Mimi used her arms to shield her eyes from the flash of light, and as she found herself falling from the sky she panicked in her head. _Oh no no no no no! This can NOT be happening! I'm falling from the sky I'm falling from the sky I'm falling from the sky! I'm gonna die! It's true after all, the pretty DO die young. Oh this isn't fair..._ were her thoughts.

Then she crashed through the underbrush and landed on some bushes, which cushioned her fall. She struggled for a while to get on her feet, before managing to find solid ground and stood up.

She blinked a few times as she fixed her hat. The first thing to come out of her mouth was "Oh noooo! My hair! It's all messed up now!"

Then she fixed her hair, patted her clothes and took a good look around her. "Uurrgh, my back hurts. And I'm hungry too. And, where am I exactly?" she looked right and left, but all she could see were trees that were somehow arranged in a peculiar way.

"Viana?" she called out. "Yamato? Mr. Big, Scary wolf? Are you guys around here?" But nothing answered her.

"Oh no. Could I be... lost and all alone?" She was starting to panic again. "Oh no oh no oh no. Oh why do I always go through this kind of thing?" she complained as she started walking. "Vianaaaaa? Yamatoooo?"

Still no answer. She proceeded to walk while calling out for her friends.

A rustle in the wind. The grass suddenly swayed. Without warning, Mimi felt a shiver down her spine. _Why do I get the feeling that something's watching me?_ she said to herself in her head. Turning around, she found nothing out of the ordinary.

_This is freaking me out. I need to get out of here fast._ She continued walking at a faster pace. "Vianaaaa? Yamatoooo? Guys? Answer me, please!"

"Hey, aren't you gonna call my name?" a voice sounded from nowhere, taking Mimi by complete surprise.

"WHOA, WHO'S THERE?" she turned instantly, like a ninja.

"Take it easy, it's only me," a deep, gruffy voice answered. But no one was there.

Mimi scratched her head. "How am I supposed to 'take it easy' when I'm talking to a ghost?"

"Who are you calling a ghost?" the voice responded, annoyed. "I'm up here, in case you haven't noticed!"

Mimi looked up to see a small Digimon in blue fur, the exact same fur that the bigger wolf from earlier had. This Digimon was stuck in a tree.

For a moment, there was no sound. And the wind blew through.

Silence.

"Sorry, who are you?"

"I'm Gravlos, dang it!" the Digimon barked. "Yamato's Digimon partner! How could you not recognize me?"

"Whaaaat?" Mimi said disbelievingly. "No way, stop messing around. Seriously, who are you? And how'd you get up there?"

The Digimon was positively upset now. "I told you, I'm Gravlos! I fell through the air, just like you! I'm small now 'cause I just happened to de-digivolve right as we flew."

"De...digivolve?"

"I'll explain later, now could you just get me down from here? This is a seriously uncomfortable spot. My coat's stuck."

Mimi frowned. "How am I supposed to get up there?"

"Climb, duh! I sure as heck don't expect you to fly up here, even though that would be better."

"Okay okay, sheesh, no need to get touchy," Mimi complained. She slowly walked over to the tree, which she saw was right next to five other similar trees, all equally distant from the grouchy-Digimon-infected tree.

The branches of the six trees criss-crossed each other, even the ones near the ground, so it wasn't hard for her to make her way up while she pondered the unusual formation of these trees. It didn't take long for her to reach Gravlos.

"Alright, so now what?" she asked when she came by the Digimon's side. Upon closer inspection, he was reptilian in appearance, and it seems he was actually yellow underneath the fur, which, strangely, was being **worn**, like an actual coat. Also, he had a long yellow horn protruding from his forehead.

"Okay listen, whenever I try to wriggle myself out of here I can feel something tugging my pelt. I'm pretty sure it's stuck to a sharp edge of the branch. Could you pull it off for me?"

Mimi looked back. Yup, the Digimon was right: a thick, pointy twig was definitely lodged deep in his coat. "Uhh, you sure you want me to do that? Won't it hurt you?"

The Digimon smiled. "Oh don't worry, this coat isn't actually part of my skin, so I can't feel anything that touches it."

"Hoooo, is that so? Alright then, here I go!" Mimi said, grabbing the edge of Gravlos' coat and started wrenching it up. It was stuck pretty deep. She tensed her muscles and pulled harder, and though the coat moved, it won't come off the twig.

"Uughh, it's hard." She wiped a sweat from her face. "Hey, how about I go down and search for the others? If I can find Yamato, I'm sure he'll be able to get it off."

Now it was Gravlos' turn to panic. "Hey, you're not gonna leave me here alone, are you?"

"Well I can't pull this off! It's too hard," Mimi retorted.

"Of course you can! You just gotta try harder!" Gravlos tried to convince her not to give up on him. "Come on, I know you can do it!"

Mimi made a grumpy face, but she stayed nonetheless. "Fine, if you insist." She grabbed the edge of the coat again, focused her mind, and pulled hard. It budged, a little. Mimi repeated the move.

"Come oooon, puuuuulll!" Gravlos cheered from the front, also trying to tug his coat off.

After a few minutes of intense pulling - and at moments, shimmying - the hard work paid off and Gravlos' coat came loose. "Woah!" he exclaimed as gravity suddenly took control of his body and he fell down and landed stupidly on his butt on the ground.

As for the girl in red, she also nearly fell, but luckily she reacted fast enough to grab hold of a nearby branch and managed to steady herself. Mimi positioned herself carefully, and then sat down on her branch, tired.

"Phew, that was exhausting!" she said out loud. "I need to rest for a while." And she closed her eyes, breathing deep.

"Aaaaaaah, my coat's loose!" she heard Gravlos' panicking voice down below. "Mimi! Don't look down here! I'm naked!" There was a hint of embarrassment in that deep, gruffy voice of his.

_What the? Like I have any interest in a reptile, wolf, whatever's naked body,_ she thought. _Wait, naked? Huh, I guess some Digimon have the sensibility to wear clothes after all. Or something like that...  
_

A shine on Mimi's closed eyes interrupted her thoughts, and she slowly opened them to witness a spectacular view of the orange sky. The sun was setting. Dusk was approaching.

"That's beautiful," she muttered. "Hey Gravlos, the view up here's incredible! You should check this out."

"Uhh no thanks, I'm still trying to wear my coat here," came the reply.

_His loss._ She thought, when suddenly something odd came to her attention. Mimi noticed that the tree she was standing on was in a cluster of trees that were in a very neatly-arranged formation. After a few seconds, she realized that this tree was part o solid rectangle of trees, and that this was on one of the longer sides.

From above, she could clearly make out the layout of the forest, and she quickly noted other solid tree-rectangles all over the forest, all neatly arranged and equidistant from each other. It didn't take long until she got the big picture: the whole forest itself was a huge rectangle, dotted with smaller tree-rectangles at regular intervals, creating large paths of grass in between them.

_Okay. This is too weird._ She quickly made her way down, and once she was on the ground she landed beside Gravlos, who was once again 'clothed'.

"So, did you see it?" he asked quietly, surprising her.

"Are you talking about the trees and this forest?" she asked back, to which Gravlos nodded.

"Yup. This kind of growth formation isn't normal, even for the Digital World." He walked over to a tree and touched it. "Someone or something planted them this way, and cut down other trees that were going to ruin the formation."

Mimi was confused. "What for?"

"That I don't know, but I do know that we're not alone this forest," he answered, turning back. "That's why I didn't want you to go wandering off on your own. You might run into danger."

Mimi crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. "Pfft, yeah right," she said cynically. "You just didn't wanna be left alone up there if there really is something here." She added a sly smile. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"N-n-no, that's not it!" Gravlos quickly dismissed the accusation. "I was just worried for your sake, that's all."

"Sure, you keep telling yourself that." The girl laughed a little as she opened her arms.

"Oh yeah?" The Digimon growled. "Well how would **you** like it if you were stuck on a tree in a weird forest all alone? Not a lot I'd guess, you spoiled princess wannabe!"

That riled Mimi up. "What did you just call me?"

"You heard me, you little..."

The sound of a gas pump. Mimi and Gravlos quieted. From afar, something similar to a gallop could be heard. And then a gust of wind.

Mimi dropped a sweat in fear. "Uh, you heard that too, right?"

Gravlos nodded. "Umm, maybe we should hold off the insults for next time, huh?"

"Yeah." Mimi nodded back. "That's a good idea."

"Alright, then let's go look for Yamato and that Palmon, err, what's her name again?"

"Viana."

"Oh right, Viana. Let's go." And the pair went off, half-running, through the numerous tree-rectangles across the forest.

As they walked however, there was another gas-pump sound. And more galloping. Whatever's making that sound is coming close.

"Gravloooooos."

"I know I know, I hear it too. Stop scaring me, dang it."

They moved forward faster, through the large paths. The wind rustled. With another gas-pump sound, the sun went down completely and darkness set in.

"I really, REALLY don't like this!"

"Shut up, Mimi, I'm scared as heck too here!"

Galloping. In the quiet of the night, it was crystal clear that the galloper was somewhere in the tree-rectangle next to them.

"Let's turn right over there."

"I'm right behind you!"

They ran now. After they rounded a corner, they stopped and turned around. "Alright, if it's gonna keep hiding in the trees it **has** to cross the path. When it does, we'll see what it is and decide if we should keep running or stand and fight," Gravlos said.

Mimi held her breath as her heart beat uncontrollably. "I'd rather we keep running 'til we find Yamato and Viana."

But Gravlos wasn't paying attention. He was focusing on the tree-rectangle they had just left. "Come on, show yourself," he muttered, when suddenly there was another gas-pump and a shadow leapt from one rectangle to another, the wind behind it making the leaves sway.

"WHOA! What was that?" Gravlos exclaimed. "That thing was too fast, I couldn't see it."

_That's it!_ "Okay, I am so out of here!" Mimi said and she ran off.

"Mimi wait! Don't leave me here all alone!" Gravlos shouted when a yellow laser beam shot past him and headed straight towards her back.

Instant terror swept across his face.

"MIMI! DIVE RIGHT!" he cried out at the top of his lungs.

When she heard the warning, she instinctively threw herself to her right as far as she could, a second before a laser beam shot past her and made clean holes in the trees in front of it.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Mimi ran while yelling as loud as she can, right and left and right and left through the trees in one of the forest's rectangles. "Somebody help me!"

She could see where Gravlos was standing. He then ran towards her, and for a moment she considered meeting him halfway, but she knew that whatever's chasing them was behind him. So she ran in the opposite direction.

A gas-pump. "Yamatooooooooo!"

Galloping. "Vianaaaaaaaa!"

A strong gust of wind. "Mimi? Where are you? MIMI!"

_Yamato! He's nearby!_ Mimi smiled as a surge of relief enveloped her. "Yamato, I'm over here, I need your-"

BAM!

She protected her face with her arms as a big shadow landed right in front of her, stopping her dead in her tracks. Defying all survival instincts, she looked up, and saw a monster.

_Why do I always go through this kind of thing?_


	14. The Forest Guardian

Chapter 14: The Forest Guardian

The boy slowly opened his eyes. "Wha-? Why is it so dark in here?" he instinctively outstretched his left hand to turn on the light switch, but two things came to his attention: one, he wasn't anywhere near any kind of switch, and two, his whole left arm is covered in some sort of wrapping.

"Eh? What's this?" he mumbled. He raised his arm and felt it with his right. There was something solid within the wrapping, as if it was some kind of splint.

He tried bending his arm. "Ouch!" he yelled.

"You shouldn't do that. Your left arm's hurt, so try not to move it around so much," a voice said from somewhere.

Akira looked up,and saw a tall boy, presumably older, looking down on him. Behind him was a light source. The crackling of wood told Akira it was a campfire.

"Uhh, really?" Akira asked. "And who are you again?"

The boy smiled goofily. "Oh yeah, I'm Joe. I was the one who covered up your arm," Joe answered. Akira stood up and walked to where Joe was.

"Hey Joe. I'm Akira," he said as he sat down in front of Joe. "Thanks for this, by the way," he added.

"Oh no worries, it's my pleasure. In fact, you should thank Zamber; he was the one who told me you were injured."

Akira suddenly took note of his Digimon partner's absence. "Zamber? Wait, where's Zamber?"

Joe raised his hands. "Don't worry, he's fine. He's currently out with my partner, Dan. They're looking for some food for us."

Akira took a few seconds to take all of this in. The rumbling of his stomach reminded him of how hungry he was. "Oh right, I see. It makes sense now. You must be one of Taichi's friends, right?"

Joe was taken aback. "Taichi?" he exclaimed. "You know him?"

Akira laid back and said, "Yeah, I guess. Well, since we're waiting anyway, I'll tell you what happened in the past two days." And he started his story.

XXXXXXX

No matter how much she wanted to, Mimi Tachikawa couldn't will herself to move away from the beast in front of her. It had a torso like a human's and it stood tall on its four legs. It had brown fur that was riddled with purple blobs and it had black hooves. There were metal pipes along its back.

The big Digimon also wore a sinister-looking metal helmet through which a single, glowing eye was peering out. Peering **down,** at her. It raised its hands, which Mimi saw was also covered in metallic gloves, and to make everything worse, its right hand was attached to something like... a **ray gun.**

"I... I..." Mimi stuttered, when suddenly there was a cry out from the surrounding darkness.

"Mimi! What're you doing? Get out of there!" Yamato called out.

_But, but, I can't move,_ Mimi thought. The Digimon aimed its right hand/gun at her and there was a yellow light gathering in it.

"Solar..." it started to say. Mimi's eyes grew wide. Everything around her began to become illuminated from the light the Digimon was giving off. That just made the sight all the more terrifying.

"Mimi!" A deep voice yelled. It was Gravlos's. But she couldn't run. Fear had a firm grasp on her. In despair, Mimi closed her eyes and shivered.

"...Ray!" and the attack came. Mimi waited for the searing blast to penetrate her head...

...when all of a sudden, something grabbed her shoulders and the next thing she knew she was stumbling on the ground. Then she felt her left hand being yanked.

"Come on, run!" Yamato ordered in front of her while pulling on her hand. Mimi was disoriented but she ran as fast as she could anyway.

The big horse-like Digimon looked at the hole it just made on the ground. And then it looked at the fleeing pair of kids. There was a gush of air from the pipes on its back. A gas-pump, and then high pressurized air was blasted out of it, and it shot after its targets. "Jet Gallop!" it shouted.

In a split second, the Digimon **leapt through the air **and in an instant it caught up with Mimi and Yamato, stopping the kids dead in their tracks.

"Urgh, no!" Yamato yelled. The Digimon raised its right hand/gun again, glowing, and fired. "Solar Ray!"

"Blue Blaster!" something also shouted at the same time, and a beam of **blue fire** shot out and hit the Digimon square behind its head, pushing it and making it miss its targets.

"Now's our chance. MOVE!" Yamato yelled as he continued to run fast, but he was no longer pulling her as Mimi was running beside him now.

The Digimon soon regained balance, and it shot another Solar Ray at the direction where the Blue Blaster came from. Then it turned its attention at the kids.

"Must kill... the Chosen Children," it mumbled, before tensing its legs and sprang off in pursuit. In a matter of seconds it was behind Yamato and Mimi. "Solar Ray!" it fired at them.

Without looking back, Yamato grabbed Mimi by her shoulders and pulled her down onto the ground, at the same time protecting her by covering her with his body. The Digimon neared them, and then used its front leg to kick the crouching Yamato out of the way.

"Grraaagh!" Yamato yelled in pain as he rolled away from Mimi, who was now totally exposed at the Digimon's mercy. Mimi looked up, her eyes dropping tears of fear as the Digimon looked down on her with its menacing single glowing eye. Then she heard it said, "You first." And it raised its right hand/gun once more.

"Noooooooooooo!" Mimi screamed at the top of her lungs. The Digimon mercilessly ignored her and prepared to fire, but before it could do anything further, tendrils of purple-green ivy shot out from the black sky above.

"Poison Ivy!" a familiar voice rang, and Mimi looked up to see her plant partner Digimon on the branches above them!

"Viana!" Mimi exclaimed as she smiled with relief. The ivies were holding the Digimon's arms in place, so it couldn't move for now.

"Run Mimi, run!" Viana shouted as she used all her strength to keep the bigger Digimon from moving. Mimi stood up, and the next moment the Digimon heaved.

"Hrrrraaaagghh!" and it tensed its arm muscles, grabbed the vines that were constricting his arms and pulled Viana down from the tree she was in.

"Whoaaaa!" Viana yelled before solid ground met her face.

"Viana!"

Viana quickly got on her feet. "You're a Centarumon, aren't you? Why are you attacking us?" she asked the Digimon, Centarumon. "Answer me!"

The Centarumon was silent, before it swatted Viana away, hard, with its right arm. "VIANA!" Mimi yelled and made to run towards her, before the Centarumon cut her off.

"Must... kill... the Chosen... Children," it muttered.

Mimi shuddered with fear, but then Yamato ran past her, once again pulling her by the hand. "Come on, let's go Mimi!" he said, grimacing with pain as he ran.

The Centarumon moved to chase, but then "Poison Ivy!" was fired from Viana, trapping Centarumon's legs.

"Run, you two! He's after you!" she shouted to Yamato and Mimi, who ran away as fast as they could.

Yamato and Mimi zigzagged through the darkness and the trees, exiting the tree-rectangle they were in and into another. After a while, they stopped to catch their breaths.

"Hhh... hhh... hhh..." The two of them were leaning on a tree. "That thing's... hhh... really strong... hhh..." Yamato said in between breaths.

Mimi didn't say anything; she just concentrated on catching her own breath. Yamato peered back to see the Centarumon, but to his surprise he was gone.

"What? Where did he go?" he mumbled. Mimi also looked back.

"Viana!" she shouted a whisper when she saw her partner slumped on the tree she hit, unmoving. She had burn marks all over.

Mimi made to run towards her, but then Yamato grabbed her hand. "Wait Mimi! Are you crazy?"

"Lemme go, Yamato!" Mimi demanded while struggling. "Viana's badly injured. I can't just leave her there!" she said, panic evident in her eyes.

"I know, but you can't just dash off out there. Listen," Yamato said. Mimi calmed down and immediately she picked up sounds of galloping in the distance.

"Centarumon's looking for us. The moment you leave this section of the forest he's gonna shoot holes through your whole body."

Mimi's eyes became watery. "Well what're we supposed to do then?"

Yamato was quiet for a while. Then he answered, "Wait here for a minute. I'll leave and try to get his attention. When he's distracted, run towards your partner and then both of you make for the forest entrance." He pointed in the direction they came through.

"Wait... you're gonna leave me here alone? In the dark?" Mimi asked, suddenly frightened. Yamato sighed.

"We don't have any other option," he said as he walked towards the edge of their tree-rectangle. "I'll find Gravlos as I'm running around. If you see rays of light and fire shooting back and forth somewhere," Yamato looked at her seriously, "that's your cue. Avoid it at all costs and head straight to your partner."

Mimi didn't say a word, but she was obviously very worried. Yamato put hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Mimi. We'll all be okay, I promise." He smiled warmly.

Mimi looked at him, and smiled back. "Okay then."

And then Yamato turned his back to her, and ran off into the darkness. Five seconds later, he was completely gone from Mimi's sight.

XXXXXXX

"Hey-lo, guess who's back with a pile of food!" Dan the Gomamon said cheerily as he and Zamber entered the cave. "Hey Joe, you can make a campfire?" he proceeded to ask his human partner as he noticed the light in the cave.

"Welcome back! And yes, of course I do! That's basic survival knowledge," Joe replied, a little irritated. Dan just grinned mischievously.

"Zamber, you're back!" a voice called out.

"Akira, you're awake!" Zamber dropped the fruits he was carrying and ran towards Akira. They hugged shortly.

"Ha ha ha, it's good to see you buddy." Akira smiled.

"Thank goodness. I was really worried all afternoon." Zamber sighed a huge relief. "Sorry I couldn't protect you from Stravel back there," he added, a tinge of guilt in his eyes.

"Don't worry, it wasn't your fault." Akira waved his hand. "Besides, thanks to you and Joe, my arm's feeling better already!"

"Really?"

"Yep, totally! So you have nothing to worry about. We'll definitely pay Stravel back double for what he did to us someday," Akira said confidently. "But right now, I could really use some food!"

Joe walked to them, holding a pile of fruits. "Then you're in luck: our partners brought back lots of them. Enough for all four of us." He then dropped the fruits on the ground and looked at Dan.

"Did you wash these?"

Dan looked at Joe incredulously. "Are you serious? You expected me to wash the fruits?"

"Yes, of course I do!"

"What's wrong with the way they are now?"

"Well it seems to me that neither you nor Zamber is a good climber, so I assume you picked these up from the ground, right?" he asked. "Eating them straight off would be very unsanitary."

Dan's eyes grew big and his mouth dropped. "I don't believe this. Joe, it's perfectly fine to eat a fruit you picked from the ground!"

Joe frowned. "Well it may be fine for you, but not me!" he replied, crossing his arms. "If you wanna eat them, go ahead, but I'll take my share and wash them first. The rain from earlier made a small spring in the cave, so I guess that'll do."

He then crouched, counted the total number of fruits, divided it by four and took his fraction with him and headed off deeper into the cave. Dan simply shook his head.

"That guy's hopeless," he said as he sat down and grabbed a fruit. Akira and Zamber followed suit, and then they all took a bite.

"Grmmm mmmmh, yummeh!" were sounds from Akira's full mouth, who closed his eyes in pleasure as he swallowed. "Whoa, I didn't realize how hungry I was. I can spend the rest of the night eating these," he said. "I'm gonna savor them, nice and slow." And he bit again.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Zamber said to him between crunches. He was already almost finished his first fruit. "I think the sooner we leave this cave, the better."

"Wha's dat?" Akira asked, again with a mouthful.

"We're not alone in this area. If we spend the night here, there's no telling what might come and attack us," Zamber answered, who grabbed another fruit as he explained. "I saw a hidden path while I was out looking for fruits. I think it's best if we trek through that path tonight. We can avoid getting cornered."

Akira was silent as he munched. After he finished his first fruit, he nodded. "Okay then, let's do that." He grabbed another fruit. "After we've finished eating, we'll take a few minutes to rest and then we'll leave."

"Assuming we don't fall asleep waiting for Joe first, though," Dan chimed in as he enjoyed the taste of fruit in his mouth.

"I heard that!" came the reply from back in the cave.

XXXXXXX

After she saw the first ray of light being fired somewhere far to her left, Mimi ran towards the last place she saw Viana. She tried to keep her cool as the night got darker. Fortunately, the flashes from Centarumon's attacks helped to light up some parts of the forest, even if only for a few seconds each.

"Solar Ray!"

"Blue Blaster!"

Mimi ran and ran, ignoring the battle going on. She hoped in her heart that Yamato had already met up with Gravlos and were battling Centarumon together. She didn't dare think of what would happen if he got lost.

After a while, she stopped and looked around. _That's odd,_ she thought. _I think I've passed this tree before._ Sweat dropped from her cheek.

Mimi squinted and checked her surroundings. She couldn't see anything in the forest apart from the treetops and the rays of light and fire criss-crossing each other in the distance.

_Uh-oh. It can't be. I'M lost?_ She started to panic. Without thinking, she called out. "Viana! Are you around here? Answer me!"

No replies. She tried again, louder. "Vianaaaa! Where are you?"

Still nothing. Dread started to creep up on Mimi as she realized that she might just be all alone in this dark forest.

"Vianaaaaaaa! Please answer me!" she shouted even louder, to the point that it echoed through the forest.

"Mimi? I'm over here!" suddenly came Viana's voice. Mimi turned sharply.

"I can't see you. Where are you?"

"Stay calm! Just follow the sound of my voice." Viana shouted back. "Umm, uhh, I'll sing out loud so you can find me."

"Okay, you do that." Mimi started to walk towards the source of the voice, keeping her hands on the trees.

"Uhm uhm..." Viana cleared her throat. "Digimon, Digital Monsters, Digimon are the Champions! Digimon, Digital Monsters, Digimon are the Champions!"

_What in the world is that?_ Mimi exclaimed in her head as the Palmon continued singing. "Change into Digital Champions to save the Digital World! Digimon, Digital Monsters, Digimon are the Champions! Digimon!"

Before long Mimi managed to find her partner. "Mimi! You're here!" Viana looked up with delight. Mimi just stared back.

"You, my friend, have a **terrible** voice!" she said sternly with a serious face. Viana was shocked.

"What? You're kidding, right?" Viana asked Mimi sincerely.

Mimi shook her head. "I'm serious. This is a life and death matter!" she said, equally sincere.

When Viana looked so sad and embarrassed with her own voice, Mimi added, "Don't worry! We're going to practice singing together and with this princess's help," she pointed her thumb at herself, "you're gonna shine like a star in no time."

A huge smile formed on Viana's face. "Really? Yay, that's so nice of you!" she exclaimed happily.

Mimi crouched down and propped Viana up with her arm. "But before that, we need to get out of here first. You can walk, right?" she asked.

"Yup." Viana stood up and together they walked side by side.

"Yamato told me to go to the forest entrance, but I can't see it," Mimi said. "I don't suppose you know where to go, do you?"

"Ummmm, I think it's that way." Viana pointed to their right, so they walked fast, and soon they could see the exit of the tree-rectangle they were in.

"Hey look, we're almost-"

Mimi was cut off when a body flew in front of them and crash landed not far from where they were standing. "GRAVLOS!" Mimi shouted in panic. She and Viana quickly neared the fallen Digimon.

"Gravlos! Are you okay?" asked Mimi, concerned.

"Uurrrgghhhh..." was all he could mutter.

"This is bad. Where's Yamato? Come on, answer me! Gravlos!" she kept pressing him, but he was half-fainted.

"Poison Ivy!" the Palmon suddenly shouted, and her ivies circled around Mimi and Gravlos and they were pulled back. The next second, a hot ray of light passed and burned a hole, right where Gravlos was laying.

Mimi fell to the ground, and looked with fear to her right. The Centarumon was there, standing still, oddly luminescent as the moonlight shone down on him. His body was burned in several places, presumably due to Gravlos' attacks. Yamato was nowhere to be seen.

"No..." Mimi gasped, before Viana jumped in front of her.

The Centarumon raised his right hand/gun. The Palmon raised both her arms and crossed her hands in front of her face.

"Viana, no! You're too weak!" Mimi complained, but Viana didn't move.

"I don't care. I have to protect you whatever happens."

"But..." Mimi started again, when Centarumon fired. "Solar Ray!"

"Plant Shock!"

The ray of light met the wave of leaves and an explosion took place. Mimi closed her eyes and heard a boom. There was no smoke, however, and shards of leaves fell through the air. She opened her eyes to see Viana dashing towards her foe.

"Plant Shock!" she fired again, but the Centarumon shielded his body using his left arm. Then he returned fire with his Solar Ray. Viana dodged the hit.

"Poison Ivy!" she shot out her ivies at Centarumon's right arm, immobilizing it.

The Centarumon grabbed his right arm with his left and pulled back with amazing force, lifting Viana up and swinging her across the grassy path. She let go and fell down on the other side. Now the Centarumon was between her and Mimi and Gravlos.

"Poison Ivy!" she fired again, but this time she aimed down at the ground. As a result she was propelled into the air by the repulsion force, and quickly found herself above the Centarumon. She aimed, and fired "Poison Ivy!" at Centarumon's body and pulled, landing feet first on him, effectively stomping down. The Centarumon neighed in pain.

"Take that! And now: Root Breaker!" she yelled, and suddenly roots came crawling out of her feet, which were already root-like themselves, and circled around the Centarumon's waist. The Centarumon yelled again, and Mimi saw that Viana's wounds were closing up. "She... she's draining Centarumon's energy..." Mimi said in awe.

Suddenly there was movement to her left, and for a moment she prepared to stand and run again, when she saw that it was Yamato.

"Yamato!" she exclaimed with joy. He didn't look too badly hurt, but he was limping a little and breathing hard, so Mimi rushed to his side and helped him sit down next to Gravlos, distracting her from the light flashing from a small object pinned to her bag.

"Jet Gallop!" the Centarumon shouted, and from its back a gush of air shot out and blew the Palmon away, releasing him from her roots. He was pushed several meters to the front by the blast and, since he was stationary, the Centarumon fell to the ground.

Viana flew and fell to the ground near the others. She quickly stood up again. "Hhh... hhh... not enough. Not strong enough," she muttered as the Centarumon also got to his feet. He turned around and aimed his hand/gun at the group, then fired. "Solar Ray!"

"Hiaaaaah!" Viana shouted as she jumped to take the hit and used her body to protect the others. The ray hit her shoulder and it sizzled as she fell, but it missed Mimi and Yamato.

"Viana!" Mimi cried loudly. Viana stood up again.

"Must... kill... the Chosen... Children!" Centarumon bellowed.

"I have to be stronger! I need more power!" Viana yelled.

"Jet Gallop!" the Centarumon used his gas pumps again to dash at an alarming speed towards them, his left hand raised high.

"I must protect Mimiiiiiiiiiiiii!"

And suddenly there was a flash of light that shot out from nowhere, illuminating the entire forest. It enveloped Viana and blinded the two kids and a voice was coming from somewhere.

"Palmon digivolves to... Togemon!"

As soon as it came, the light disappeared. When Mimi opened her eyes, she couldn't believe what she saw: a giant **cactus with red boxing gloves** had taken Viana's place. Yamato was also surprised, but he quickly shifted his focus and saw that the big cactus took Centarumon's punch directly. The thorns on the cactus apparently hurt him.

"Aaaaaarggggh!" the Centarumon withdrew his left hand and walked back, but the cactus moved in, surprisingly fast for her size. "Lightspeed Jabbing!" she shouted before raining hits on the Centarumon with its gloved hands, using boxer moves to repeatedly punch him.

"Take this! And this! And this! And this! And this! Hyaaaaaaaaahh!" the cactus attacked relentlessly, delivering hook after hook after hook. The Centarumon couldn't do nothing but take the hits, and was pushed far back.

However, he finally managed to find an opening and in a second managed to grab both of the cactus' hands with his own, and suddenly it was a power struggle now. The two Digimon pushed as hard as they could.

"Hnnnggghhhh!" the Centarumon groaned, for the cactus was bigger and heavier than he was, but then he yelled "Dynamite Kick!" and he stood up on his hind legs and used his two front ones to kick out at the cactus' body. The cactus was pushed back. "Ughhh!"

The Centarumon wasted no time and aimed his right hand/gun at the cactus, but the cactus swiftly swatted it away with her left hand, leaving the centaur completely defenseless. "Coconut Punch!" it cried and then landed two **massive** hits on her opponent's head. The Centarumon was disoriented.

"This will finish you off: Needle Spray!" she shouted as she closed her hand, and then she pushed her body as a storm of needles, the needles on her body, shot out and hit the dizzy Centarumon in place. The needles struck the Centarumon mercilessly and as soon as it ended, everything was quiet.

Without warning, a black object shot out of Centarumon's back, pushed out of his body by the sheer force of the cactus' last attack. It flew off and then broke into pieces, and disappeared.

"Huh? A gear?" the cactus said, before light emanated from her body and soon she shrunk down, back to a Palmon, at the same time as the centaur collapsed.

"Hhh... hhh... I win," Viana said, and the night battle in the forest ended.

XXXXXXX

"Drill Tunnel, eh?" Joe said to Dan as his group own group of four stood outside the hidden path Zamber was talking about earlier. "That's an unusual name..."

They were looking at the mouth of a cave, a long cave, so perhaps it's best to describe it as a tunnel. There was a strange plank like a neon sign above it that says 'Drill Tunnel' in Digital alphabet, read aloud by Dan. The neon was on but it wasn't bright.

"Wonder what's inside? How deep does it run?" Akira asked out loud.

"And why is there a neon sign here?" Joe asked as well.

"Don't know, but its better than staying in the cave with things lurking around," Zamber said as he walked first into the tunnel, looking around. Akira followed, and Dan was behind him. It was pretty dark, but at least the path ahead was visible.

"Uh, hey, wait for me guys!" Joe said, entering the tunnel last. The four of them walked deeper into the tunnel, unaware of the pair of eyes watching them from above.


	15. Story of the Centaur

Chapter 15: Story of the Centaur

"Well, it's way too dark to find our way out of here now." Yamato said as he leaned on a tree, with Gravlos sleeping beside him, his head on his shoulder. Mimi and Viana were sitting around them. After Viana's decisive digivolution, Yamato proceeded to explain to the dumbstruck Mimi about what just happened.

"I see. So that cactus was you, huh?" Mimi asked Viana. "I... I'm not really sure what to say about that."

Viana bowed her head. "I know. I look even less pretty than I currently do," she said, somewhat pitifully. Mimi quickly shook both her hands in the air.

"It's not that!" she said, before changing her mind. "Well, maybe it **is** that, but it's not something you should worry about. I mean, hey, if you become less and less stylish as you get stronger just to protect me, then... I'm fine with it. Really." And Mimi ended that with an honest smile.

Viana looked at her, and then started crying. "Mimi thinks I'm ugly now, huuaaaaaaaah waaaaaaaaaaah!"

"No no, don't cry Viana! I didn't say that! Well, not explicitly, but like I said, I don't care, so stop crying please." Mimi tried to calm her down, but it proved to be a challenge.

Yamato just looked at them, holding all urges to comment. The crying woke Gravlos, who was a Gabumon according to Yamato, up. But then, something else moved: Centarumon.

"What the?" Yamato asked, alerted. He then looked with fear as the centaur regained consciousness. "Oh no, he's up again!"

Mimi and Viana quickly stepped away from the Champion-level Digimon (Viana told them this), and prepared to run when the Centarumon didn't stand up. In fact, he just sat there, legs folded like a real horse.

For a moment, no one said anything. The Centarumon used his left hand to scratch the back of his head, and his right to gently rub his stomach. Then he said something: "I thank you."

The group didn't respond, so the Centarumon continued. "My name is Bilgram, and as you already know, I am a Centarumon. I guard this forest, the Amida Forest," he said. "As you can see..."

"Tell us why you attacked us first," Yamato interrupted him. "Why did you try to kill us?"

Bilgram sighed. It was Viana who answered, surprisingly. "I think he wasn't himself when he attacked us," she said, in between sniffs and sobs.

Yamato still looked at the centaur with a fierce expression. "I don't buy it. Are you saying he was drunk or something?"

"No! Not drunk, more like controlled! Or possessed, or brainwashed, or whatever you wanna call it," Viana explained. "After I had beaten him, I saw a black gear fly out of his body, before it vanished. I don't know why, but I sensed that the gear was behind this. It had this evil feel to it."

"She is right," Bilgram said. "If you would kindly have the patience to listen to me, I will explain to you what is happening on this island. Including why you are here, in this world."

Yamato and Mimi were shocked when they heard this. "You know why we're here?" Yamato asked. Bilgram nodded.

"Come with me to my home. I will tell you what I know there. At this time of the night, food and shelter would be appreciated, yes?"

Yamato looked hesitant in trusting the Digimon that just hunted them down an hour ago. He looked at Mimi, who was surprisingly smiling. "Okay, we'll follow you, Mr. Bilgram."

"What? Mimi, don't you think you should be a little more careful?" Yamato exclaimed. "He could just be trying to lure us into a trap for all we know."

Mimi looked back at Yamato. "I know that, but for some reason I trust him. Something tells me that he's telling the truth, Yamato." Then she looked at Viana, and smiled. "And besides, I trust my partner, so I think we should give him a chance."

Yamato fell silent. Then he looked at Gravlos. "What do **you** think?"

Gravlos eyed Bilgram warily. "I'll go with whatever you decide, Yamato. However, I know for a fact that, while Centarumon as a species are powerful and sometimes territorial, they're never murderous." He then turned his focus to Viana. "And I'm pretty sure Viana isn't lying about the black gear she saw."

Yamato frowned. The others looked at him expectantly, waiting for his call. He closed his eyes and exhaled. "Fine. We'll go to your place, Bilgram."

Bilgram bowed his head a little. "I shall repay your trust with hospitality. Come now, my home is this way." He turned and started walking. "Do try to keep up, for walking slowly is not within my nature and I shall not be held responsible if you get lost in the woods." Bilgram added.

Mimi, Viana and Gravlos stood up and quickly followed Bilgram. Yamato was silent for a while, then he did the same and started walking.

After nearly ten minutes, they reached the edge of the forest, the one that was on the other side from the entrance. They were facing a mountainous earth wall with huge leaves covering it.

"So where's your house? I don't see anything here," Mimi asked Bilgram. Bilgram didn't say a word, and then walked to the wall and pushed back several leaves, to uncover a gaping hole that was just big enough for him to get through. Bilgram walked in, and the others did too. A few seconds later, they arrived at a large round room, surprisingly lit.

"Whoa! So this is your home, eh?" Viana asked Bilgram in amazement, to which he nodded while walking towards something resembling a cabinet carved into the wall.

"Please, make yourselves at home. My apologies if it is not to your liking."

Mimi sat down on one of two wooden couches available. "Well, it's kind of dirty, but at least there's a great view," she said while looking up above. There was a round hole above the room, very high up. The hole was half the size of the room, and it offered a magnificent view of the starry night sky.

Viana sat down next to Mimi, while Gravlos took the other couch. Yamato walked towards the edge near the entrance, where he noticed a circular opening like a window. It went all the way through the mountain, and through it he could see the whole forest.

"So this is your base, huh? You spy on people from this hidden encampment, and then attack them when their guards are down."

"Only those who wish to harm the forest," Bilgram replied. Confused, Yamato looked back to see that Bilgram was laying a pile of fruit and vegetables on the floor. He also put three big bowls of water beside it.

"Here. Forgive me, but this forest offers nothing more than green produce, so this is all I can give to you," he said as he sat down. "One bowl of water is for me, and the rest is for you to share."

Mimi and Viana's eyes sparkled at the sight, while Gravlos' stomach began to rumble. Yamato said nothing.

"You picked these from the forest?" Mimi asked.

"I did."

"The water too?"

"I have my own supply of water. It comes from a lake behind this mountain, a lake from ancient times and thus remains pure. The lake also sustains life to the forest when rain is scarce."

"A lake, huh? I wanna see it!" Viana said as Gravlos picked up an orange banana-like fruit. Bilgram pointed at the far wall of the room.

"Hidden in the shadows is a secret pathway towards a distant land, a land of ancient powers. That land has mysterious properties which I myself do not understand. I advise against going there," he replied as Yamato sat down on the couch Gravlos was on. Viana frowned in disappointment.

"You sure know a lot about this place," Yamato said. Bilgram nodded.

"This is the Amida Forest, and beyond it is the Ancient Dino Region. I am Bilgram, guardian of the forest and the entrance to the ancient lands. I have been entrusted with this duty for a very long time, and this world has been waiting for your arrival, O Chosen Children!"

Yamato raised his eyebrows. "Waiting? Chosen? What do you mean?"

"There is a prophecy located deep within the ancient lands," he continued while the others started eating as they listened. "It is stated that some time in the future, darkness will rise from the shadows and reign over our world, bringing with them destruction and doom for all. When that happens, a group of children from another world was to be summoned, and help us defeat the forces of evil threatening the Digital World."

The four of them looked at Bilgram disbelievingly, while the Centarumon himself proceeded to pick up a fruit.

"You've gotta be kidding. We're supposed to be heroes? Of this bizarre world?" asked Yamato.

"In short, yes. The prophecy mentioned that Digimon alone do not have the power to defend this world, and so we need the power of you and your friends." Bilgram continued as he started eating. "Each child is assigned a Digimon partner, and together you and your partners must defeat the evil Digimon."

Yamato said cynically, "Alright, let's say you're telling the truth for a moment. What do you mean 'power'? We don't have any special powers."

"That's right, Mr. Bilgram," Mimi chimed in. "We're just a group of ordinary kids on summer camp."

Bilgram shook his head. "Did you know? Digivolution does not happen so quickly, like the way your partner did just then. That digivolution was unnatural, and made possible only by a special power given to you."

Yamato took out a small white object from his pocket, the same one pinned to the strap of Mimi's bag. "That is called a Digivice," Bilgram said. "It contains a mysterious energy that allows a Digimon to digivolve much quicker than they normally would, at the cost of not being able to retain its digivolved form."

"Mysterious energy?"

"Yes. I do not know much, but what I do know is that these devices act as a medium between you and your partners. When a human bonds with a Digimon, the human can provide their emotional energy to increase the Digimon's own powers. The exact process is beyond my comprehension, but it seems that it channels your energy in addition to the energy the Digimon gathers for itself."

Everybody was silent. Then Viana said what was on everyone's mind: "I don't get it."

Bilgram looked astounded. "Really?"

"Yeah, really," Mimi said.

"Even I don't get it, and I'm a Digimon too," Gravlos added.

"How about you start by explaining to us what digivolution really is, Bilgram?" Yamato suggested.

The Centarumon nodded. "Very well. You see, like humans, Digimon age and mature as well. We gather energy from the environment, which is everywhere in the Digital World. When sufficient energy has been gathered, we can transform to the next stage, or digivolve. This is a natural occurrence, and the higher your stage is, the more energy you need to digivolve again."

"How do Digimon gather this energy?" asked Yamato. "Do they do this consciously?"

"No. A Digimon's body is designed to passively absorb this energy from their surroundings. Think of it this way: there is a gate inside each Digimon that pulls in energy from the outside. This gate is always open, but only a little bit. Energy is constantly flowing in to the body through the gate."

"However, there are certain times when this gate is opened much wider. This happens when the Digimon finds itself in need of greater power, which is always in one of two conditions: when the Digimon feels severe emotional stress, or it is fighting an intense battle. When one of these conditions is met, the gate opens wider. It is a survival instinct, and is not under the control of the Digimon itself."

Yamato's eyes grew wide. "So that's why our partners only digivolve when we are in mortal danger."

Bilgram nodded. "Obviously, when the gate is opened wider, much more energy can enter the body in a short amount of time, resulting in a sudden digivolution. But again, the Digimon has no control of this phenomenon. In short, no Digimon can control their digivolution."

"And the Digivice? What does it do?" Viana asked.

"Basically, it absorbs the energy that is already a Digimon's body and compounds it with a human's emotional energy. After that, it forces the gate to open wider and channels the shared energy, ultimately resulting in an unusually-large energy boost for your partners, allowing them to digivolve in times of great crisis. This cannot occur when the Digimon is too weak, tired or hungry, or the initial energy absorption would be lethal."

"Hmmm. I'm beginning to understand now," Yamato murmured.

"But why do we de-digivolve after we've digivolved? I've never seen a Digimon that regressed back," Gravlos asked. Bilgram turned to face him.

"Because the energy absorbed from the environment is considered 'organic' to the Digimon's body, while the energy given by the Digivice is 'synthetic' or 'unnatural'. This is due to the presence of a human's emotional energy as well, and thus the synthetic energy will not be absorbed and will be expelled from the Digimon's body before long."

"Therefore, Digivice-induced digivolution is not permanent. This also happens to Digimon who digivolve too quickly, because their body was not given the time to properly absorb the energy from the environment, in effect making the instantaneous digivolution akin to a panic button."

"Who made the Digivices?" Yamato inquired. "Moreover, how did they send it to us?"

"I do not know. That is a matter far too ancient. But what I do know is that having those Digivices is proof that you and your friends have been chosen to protect this world."

"Who? Who chose us? And why us, specifically?" Mimi asked.

"Forgive me, I cannot answer those questions," Bilgram responded.

"Okay then, what do you know about this world? The Digital World," Yamato continued. "Where is this place? Where's our world, Earth?"

"I do not know that either. This world is the Digital World, the world in which Digimon live, and that is all I am able to tell you."

"Alright, so how do we get back to our own world?"

"You appear to think I know everything. I do not, young man. I am merely a guardian of this forest and the lands beyond it. I only know what I have discovered on my own, and that is what I am telling you right now."

Mimi and Yamato fell silent. Viana and Gravlos looked at their human partners. Then Gravlos turned to Bilgram and asked him, "What about the evil Digimon? What do you know about it?"

Bilgram opened his arms. "The Digital World is vast. Though this world is inhabited mainly by Digimon, many of them have an unpleasant disposition. I would assume this is not unlike the world from which you came. However, several Digimon cannot be described as simply being 'unpleasant'; they are outright evil and intend to shroud the world with darkness."

"Often, these Digimon are much too powerful for any regular Digimon to confront. This is where you, the Chosen Children, play your role." Bilgram looked at the two kids. "With your Digivices and the bonds you share with your Digimon partners, you must help us defeat the evil Digimon, lest they shall conquer the world and unimaginable consequences shall arise."

"So you're saying that, since Yamato and Mimi and their friends have arrived here, the evil Digimon have started to take over the Digital World?" Gravlos asked Bilgram.

"I believe so. And I believe the Black Gear that entered me is part of its plan. The gear has a frightening ability to turn evil whatever Digimon it lands on, and puts them under the evil Digimon's control. When I was controlled by it, it compelled me to eliminate the Chosen Children. Like you said, I normally do not attack others unless they mean harm to the forest."

"Who is this evil Digimon? Do you know its name?" Viana asked.

"No. I do not know its identity, but I do know that it arrived on the island this morning. Malice has invaded File Island, and I, on behalf of the Digital World, request that you take action and help us vanquish it." Bilgram looked at them seriously. "You are our only hope."

_This__ is __all __sounding __just __like __a__ kid's TV__ show._ Yamato thought while closing his eyes. "So let me get this straight: according to some ancient prophecy, evil Digimon are going to try and conquer this world. Other Digimon can't stop them, so they recruit beings from another world - us - to help them out. We are given special devices that have great power and assigned Digimon partners in order to defeat the evil Digimon. That pretty much sums it up, right?"

Bilgram nodded, followed by Mimi standing up while putting her hands together. "Alright then, we accept! We'll beat the evil Digimon and save this world, Mr. Bilgram!"

Yamato was taken aback by sudden announcement. "What? Why? Mimi, we have other things to worry about here, like trying to find a way to get back! Has it occurred to you that our friends and family might be worried about our sudden disappearance during summer camp?"

Mimi put her finger on her cheek. "Oh yeah, there's that. I guess you have a point there."

"And besides," Yamato continued, "this is a very dangerous thing to do. Not that I'm scared or anything, mind you, but we might just lose our lives trying to defeat the evil Digimon. Heck, we nearly died just a couple of hours ago!"

"Hmmm, that's true. But still..." Mimi responded. "Don't you feel like we should help the Digital World? I mean, they did ask for our help, Yamato."

"Without consulting us first or anything like that," he pointed out.

"True, but we can't just leave them alone, can we? We should always help other people, even when it's hard for us. The same goes for Digimon too," she smiled while explaining her thoughts.

"Well, I agree with you on that, but you do realize that we'll probably run into greater dangers than what we've been through this far, right?"

"I do, and believe me Yamato, it really scares me," Mimi answered, and then she looked at Viana. "But isn't that the whole point of us being given Digimon partners anyway? We have our partners, our friends, and together we can take down any evildoer out there, no matter how scary!" And she smiled sincerely. "Don't you think so?"

Yamato bit his lip and was silent again. He looked at Mimi, who was looking back at him. He then turned to look at Gravlos, his Digimon partner, and saw that he too was awaiting Yamato's final decision. Bilgram and Viana were looking at him expectantly. Then, the blond boy inhaled and exhaled and opened his mouth.

"Oh alright then. Mimi's convinced me. She's right; we'll help you defeat the evil Digimon that's threatening your world."

Mimi and Viana grinned widely. "Really, Yamato?" Viana asked.

Yamato smiled a little. "Sure. It's not like we have anything else to do here, anyway. And besides," he looked at Gravlos, "I'm gonna feel so guilty if I refuse to help my new friends here. A friend in need is a friend indeed! Or so they say," he ended his sentence with a small wink.

Gravlos smiled and stood up. "Yamato, you're the best!" Mimi and Viana cheered and hugged. "Yaaaaaaay! We're goin' on an adventure, we're goin' on an adventure!"

Yamato smiled wider, and he looked at Bilgram, who, even though his face was covered completely beneath his metal mask, seemed to be smiling somehow. "Thank you," he said.

"No problem. It's not everyday you're given the chance to be a hero anyway."

"Then it is settled. You and your friends accept our world's request and are entrusted to protect it."

"Don't worry, Mr. Bilgram, you can count on us!" Mimi said confidently.

"Yeah, we'll be sure to take care of the evil Digimon on this island," Yamato added.

Bilgram nodded. "I am confident you will. Now, the first thing for you to do is to reunite with your friends. I can guide you to a place where you might just be able to do that, but that is for tomorrow. It has been a long night, and I am certain we can all use a good night's sleep. But forgive me; I have no beds, not even ones that are made of dirt. I am just a horse, after all," he joked.

All of them laughed a little. Then Yamato yawned, while Viana sat down again, rubbing her eyes. Gravlos picked up another fruit, this time a blue apple of some sort. Mimi just asked Bilgram, "Well, I guess a couch is better than the ground. Do you have blankets, Mr. Bilgram?"

The Centarumon answered. "Would you like leaves or shrubs?" And now Yamato was sure Bilgram smiled.


	16. Midnight Battle Underground  Part 1

Chapter 16: Midnight Battle Underground - Part 1

While Yamato's group was staying at Bilgram the Centarumon's place and listened to his story, another group of four was traversing a long, dark tunnel...

"Wow, it sure is dark in here," Akira commented after about five minutes of walking through Drill Tunnel.

"Yeah, no kiddin'," Dan said. It really was dark, and the entrance was far behind them now, so their only source of light was the sparks that were flying around Zamber's tails. It wasn't much, but at least it allowed them to see the path they were walking on.

Joe was shaking in fear as he walked. "Uhh guys, are you sure this is a good idea? Couldn't we have just stayed back in the cave for the night and walk through here first thing in the morning?"

Dan turned around and started walking backwards while facing Joe. "Oh stop worrying so much, Joe! Remember: if anything happens, I'm always here to help ya!"

Joe merely closed his eyes in response. "But that's exactly why I'm so worried."

Akira laughed. "Ha ha ha, relax Joe! We've been walking for over five minutes now and nothing's made a sound. Not even a cricket!" Akira put his hands behind his head. "I think we're pretty safe, even if it is totally dark in here."

"Yeah, he's right," Dan continued. "We're alone in here, so there's absolutely nothing to worry about!"

Zamber, who was leading the party, mumbled. "Hmmm, I'm not so sure about that..."

Akira walked over to his partner's side. "What's that? What did you say, Zamber?"

Zamber glanced back. "Am I the only one who feels like we're being watched?"

Akira and Dan raised their eyebrows. "Really? Since when?"

"Ever since we stepped foot in this place."

"Oh no! I knew it!" Joe panicked, his teeth clattering. "It's not safe in here! We really shouldn't have entered this tunnel!"

Dan quickly slapped Joe's back with his fin. "Calm down, you big wuss!"

"Ouch! Hey, that hurt, you know!"

"Well you asked for it with all your annoying whining!"

"Oh is that so?"

"That is so!"

Joe raised his fist and rolled his sleeve. "Well then you asked for this, you little flat-footed fish breath!"

"Bring it on, four eyes!"

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!"

Akira quickly stepped in the middle and stopped all the growling and glaring. "Now now, easy guys. Come on Zamber, don't scare us like that. Could it be it was only your imagination?"

Zamber just said nothing. "Hmmm, maybe." Then he turned his back and started walking again. "But I've never known myself to be that imaginative..."

Two steps after that, and the ground beneath Zamber cracked without warning. "What the-" and then it gave way.

"Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

"Zamber!" Akira quickly hopped and crouched and managed to grab the Elecmon by the tail with his right hand just before he fell deeper. Unfortunately, since Zamber's tails were charged up with electricity to light the way, Akira got zapped.

"Akira!" Joe and Dan grabbed his waist and shoulders and pulled them up fast. As soon as they were back on solid ground, Akira let go of Zamber's tail.

"Ah, Akira! Are you alright? Sorry!" Zamber checked his partner, who was lying on the ground, shocked.

"Uhhhhh, that was... an electrifying... experience," Akira said as he got up, wagging his hand in the air.

"This is no time for you to be a funnyman! Are you really okay?" Zamber shouted. Akira just smiled, winked and raised his right thumb. "Just fine, thanks!"

Dan walked over to the newly-formed hole. "That's weird. What would a hole be doing here?"

Joe inspected it. "Maybe something dug it, to trap things to eat and such. Things like... us!" He then frightened himself.

"Pfffft, I hardly think we're on anybody's dinner menu, Joe," Dan said as he shook his head. "I think it makes more sense to say that this was an accident. This place is pretty run down, so maybe it just couldn't take anymore weight."

Joe bonked his partner's head lightly. "This isn't some wooden bridge, Dan! There's no way the ground would collapse just like that unless someone, or something, dug it."

Dan held his head with his hands, or fins to be precise. "That hurt!"

"Serves you right!"

Akira walked past them, with Zamber by his side. "Come on you guys, let's keep walking." And so Joe and Dan followed suit.

They kept walking, following the path, turning a couple of bends, when all of a sudden there was a rumbling above them.

"What's that sound?" Akira uttered as he looked up, and the next second his eyes doubled their size. "Everybody get away!"

They all jumped away just as **two ****boulders** came crashing down, landing right at the spot where they had been just a second ago. They all breathed hard because of the sudden action.

"Hhh... hhh... what the heck just happened?" Dan asked.

Akira looked at the big rocks. "Dunno. Hhh... a second later and we would've... hhh... been squashed like bugs."

Joe was terrified. "Ohh this isn't good. I bet somebody threw them down our way to kill us!"

"You're overreacting again," Dan replied. "It's obvious these rocks rolled down on their own. Must've been dislodged 'coz the place's really old."

"How can you be so sure?"

"'Cause there's no reason not to be!"

Zamber looked up to where the rumbling started. He squinted his eyes, and then he fired. "Super Thunder Strike!" A lightning bolt shot out.

The attack hit a big stone above, illuminating a spot that was covered in a dust cloud for a few seconds. "What're you doing, Zamber?" Akira asked. "You're gonna 'cause a cave in!"

Zamber looked fierce. "The shadow. There's a shadow."

"What?"

"Super Thunder Strike, **double ****charge!**"

The bigger lightning bolt crackled loudly with the echoes in the cave, and then it destroyed the big stone and turned it into several smaller rocks that started rolling down the edge of the cave.

"See? Quick, step back, Zamber," Akira called, while Joe and Dan walked backwards away from the oncoming rush of rocks.

Akira and Zamber jumped back to avoid the rocks, which crashed with a loud, resounding BOOM throughout the dark cave.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" Zamber yelled.

"What? Did you see someone up there?" Akira asked, and Zamber nodded.

"I saw a shadow move. I had a suspicion that the first two boulders didn't roll down by themselves. There are claw marks on them."

Dan looked at the first boulders, and saw that Zamber was right. This freaked Joe out. "Oh no!" Then he turned to Dan and pinched his cheeks. "See Dan? I told you we were in danger, didn't I?"

"Ouch! Joe, that hurts, that hurts! Lemme go!" Dan yelled.

Zamber walked over and shouted again. "Come down here and fight us instead of throwing pebbles!" he shouted. Sparks were crossing his tails. The little Elecmon was definitely battle-ready.

For a moment, there was nothing. But then, something big leaped from up above. Akira assumed there must be a ledge somewhere up there, 'cause what landed was really big! And heavy too, since its impact shook the ground.

Akira was used to seeing Digimon by now, but it still surprised him when he realized he was staring at something that looked like a mole. A great, big mole that was the size of a truck with a purple back and cream underside. But its most distinguishing feature was the huge, metallic **drill** as its nose that was bigger than Akira, and the smaller drills in place of its fingers on each of its legs.

"That's a Drimogemon," Dan said from behind as he rubbed his cheeks. "It makes sense: Drimogemon are diggers, so they usually live underground. This must be its home."

Zamber looked at the Drimogemon sharply. "So you were the one who dug the hole back there, am I right?"

The Drimogemon said nothing, before it pointed one of its drill-fingers at them, yelling "Kill!" and then lunged at them, its drill-nose first. "Iron Drill Spin!" it shouted, its mean-looking drill spinning rapidly. The four of them dodged the hit.

"Whoaaa!" Zamber quickly got back on his feet. "So you wanna rumble? Then let's go: Super Thunder Strike!" The lightning bolt struck the Drimogemon, but it was unfazed and turned its attention to him.

The Drimogemon ran with both of its hands raised in the air. "Mole's Claw!" and it brought them down, slashing. Zamber evaded the attack.

"Hah! Even an armless Sukamon would've dodged that attack," Zamber taunted. The Drimogemon roared and then tried to slash Zamber again and again with its claws

"Hey Dan, can't you do something to help?" Joe asked as Zamber kept doging the attacks. "That Digimon looks dangerous. You're supposed to have powers too, right?"

"Well," Dan answered, "the thing is, my powers only work in a body of water, which is nowhere near here."

"What? Why?"

"'Cause I'm a Gomamon, and that's what I do!"

Joe looked desperate. "Oh come on!"

While Joe and Dan were arguing, Akira picked up some rocks and threw them at the Drimogemon. It worked, and the Drimogemon got distracted.

"Groaaaaaaaaaaar!" it roared loudly, and Akira had to cover his ears because the cave walls bounced its scream back at them. The Drimogemon rushed to him.

"Iron Drill Spin!" it attacked again, using the spinning drill on its nose. Akira swiftly rolled out of the way. "Joe, Dan, watch out!" he warned.

Joe and Dan launched themselves backwards to avoid the incoming drill attack, and the Drimogemon's big drill hit only the ground.

"Woah, that was close!" Dan said. Joe just ran as far as he could away from the battle. Now the Drimogemon was in the middle of the group.

Zamber launched another lightning bolt. "Super Thunder Strike!" he shouted, and the attack landed on the gigantic mole's back but it didn't hurt it.

The Drimogemon turned around and with another Iron Drill Spin attack it started shaking its head left and right wildly while charging, its big drill swinging dangerously. It came to whoever was closest, but it was too slow and all of them managed to avoid its drill without any problems.

"Super Thunder Strike!" Zamber tried again, and again the Drimogemon took it straight on, this time with its chest. Akira and Dan threw some big rocks that fell earlier and aimed them at the Drimogemon's head.

"Mole's Claw!" the Drimogemon shouted as it used the little drills on its paws to slice up the rocks, destroying them easily. It then turned to Zamber and aimed the tip of its bigger drill, the one on its face, at him. "Iron Drill Spin!" and it lunged directly at Zamber.

The Elecmon jumped out of the way and the drill hit the ground, piercing through with ease. "Hey, that gives me an idea!" Zamber said as he landed safely, while the Drimogemon brought its drill back up, spinning and ready for more.

Zamber rounded the Drimogemon and went back to where Akira and Dan were standing. "Guys, I know how to take him down, but I need you to throw rocks at its forehead."

"Its forehead?"

"Yeah. And use big, heavy ones."

"Right!"

The two of them went in opposite directions while the Drimogemon spun in place, now once again facing Zamber. As expected, it raised its big drill and started running towards the Elecmon.

"Iron Drill Spin!"

Akira and Dan each picked up large rocks. "Now!" commanded Zamber, and the two of them threw the rocks at the top part of Drimogemon's head.

The Drimogemon saw what was coming and quickly decided the rocks would require it to stop if it wanted to destroy them, so without stopping it ducked under them and continued charging.

Zamber smiled. "Gotcha. Super Thunder Strike, **double**** charge!**"

The big lightning bolt was now aimed at the Drimogemon's **drill!** With its head lowered, the attack had no problem landing on the drill and this time, the spinning metal drill acted as a conductor for the electricity, and proceeded to shock the enormous purple mole.

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwrrrrrr!" the Drimogemon loudly roared as it violently convulsed due to the high voltage attack. For a few seconds, so much electricity was running through its drill that the cave itself got partially lit, but it was enough to reveal the path they were on before.

The Drimogemon then aimed its drill to the ground, shouting "Iron Drill Spin!" and bore through the ground at a phenomenal speed, and disappeared completely out of sight in just three seconds.

As soon as it was gone, things got quiet again. "Heh. It worked," Zamber said proudly as he sat down. "I knew its drill could be used as a lightning rod."

Akira neared his partner, his eyes glittering. "Wow Zamber, that was awesome! Good thinking there, partner."

Zamber smiled widely at the compliment, his eyes glowing a little. "Thanks, Akira!"

"Uuh guys," Joe interrupted as he came to them, "let's just leave this place quick, what do you say?"

Dan raised his paws in amazement. "You didn't do squat to help us in the fight and now you expect us to just run away?"

"Yes, of course I do!"

Akira grinned. "Relax, Joe; we don't have to actually **run** away now that that thing's gone. Let's take it easy."

"We can't take it **too** easy, though," Zamber reminded them. "Joe's right; it'd be better if hurry along that path." He pointed to the path that was lit by the attack from earlier and started walking again. The others followed Zamber and the four of them continued their midnight trek in Drill Tunnel.


	17. Midnight Battle Underground  Part 2

Chapter 17: Midnight Battle Underground - Part 2

After their run-in with the big mole Digimon Drimogemon, Akira and friends find themselves walking on a path upwards, high above a shimmering pool of lava. Sweat rolled down their faces as they hiked in the dark Drill Tunnel.

"Whoa... I wonder how far this path goes..." Dan mumbled.

"I hope it goes away from that lava soon. This place is really, really hot," Joe said while wiping sweat off his forehead.

Zamber wasn't in the lead anymore, since the lava lit up the whole cave and so his electrical powers were no longer needed. He walked beside his human partner.

"You okay, Zamber?" Akira asked the Rookie-level Digimon. Zamber answered him with a smile.

They continued on for another minute or so, until they came to a three-way junction. The path they were on continued ahead, no longer going upwards and still rounding the edge of the lava pool.

However, there was another, smaller path to their left. This path was going up and **away** from the lava pool, and there were small breezes coming from its direction.

"Air currents flow from lower temperatures to higher temperatures," Joe said, coming from behind Akira. "That means that that direction will lead us to a cooler place!"

"Really? You think so, Joe?" Akira asked.

"Yep, I'm one hundred percent sure."

"Wow," Dan said in amazement. "You maybe a scaredy cat, but you sure are smart!"

Joe frowned. "Well, thanks for the non-compliment, Dan."

"Alright then," Zamber spiritedly said as he headed towards the tunnel that went left, "let's keep moving." And they did.

Not long after they found a really big, round rock that was in their way. It covered the whole tunnel and looked heavy. Akira knocked on it and confirmed that it was very thick.

"Now how are we going to get past this?" he wondered.

"Hmm..." Zamber pursed his lips while thinking.

"I don't think we can just push it along the way," Dan said as he inspected all sides of the rock. "That'd be too tiring."

"So we have to go back and follow the other path?" Akira asked.

Nobody answered him for a while. Then, Zamber turned to face Joe. "Hey Joe. Even air currents can't pass through solid objects, right?"

Joe looked at Zamber. "Yeah, there needs to be a hole or a crack or something for it to flow through."

"Then that means there must be an opening around here somewhere."

Akira looked around. "But I don't see any kind of cracks on the walls or ceiling here."

Zamber nodded. "Which means the path ahead is larger than this rock, leaving behind small openings at the corners of the wall!"

Joe seemed to catch on what Zamber was trying to say. "Which also means we can dislodge it!"

Hearing this, Akira grinned widely, but Dan was skeptical. "Dislodge it how? We can't move something this heavy."

Joe raised his finger and wagged it in front of Dan's face. "Ah-ha. Now look's who's being pessimistic," he said with a triumphant smile. "All we have to do is dig the ground out around the base of the rock, and gravity and this steep tunnel will take care of the rest."

"Then what're we waiting for? Let's get digging!" Akira said excitedly.

The four of them started shoveling out some of the dirt around the base of the big rock and soon it began to budge, like it was about to roll down the tunnel.

"Okay," Joe said, "now all of us just dig some dirt out of the walls and press our bodies against the tunnel wall as hard as we can to let the rock through."

They did as Joe told them. After everyone was ready, Zamber charged up his tails, and then he fired an electrical attack. "Super Thunder Strike!"

The bolt of electricity was aimed at the ground around the rock and it blew away more earth. Suddenly the big rock rumbled down, narrowly crushing Akira and the others as it passed them.

"Hoo-ray! We did it!" Akira exclaimed happily.

"Good work, Joe," Dan said to his human partner. Joe smiled and thanked the Gomamon.

"Alright guys, let's go," Zamber said as he entered a large room. The first thing that took everyone's attention was the presence of what appeared to be **lamps** hung on the ceiling of the room.

"What the...?" Zamber said, confused. The others walked silently behind him, looking around.

"Whoa... what is this place?" Akira wondered aloud.

"It looks like some sort of mine," Joe answered as he looked around.

After a few steps, they came to a round bend on the path. The path continued right, but on the edge of that bend was, of all things, a small pool of water.

"Okay, this place just keeps getting weirder and weirder," Joe said. "First a river brimming with searing hot lava, and now a lit-up mining operation complete with indoors plumbing?"

Zamber neared the pool. "I agree; this is just too odd. Wonder-"

Without warning, a small whirlpool formed at the water's edge and then something huge leapt out of it! In a blur, it grabbed Zamber and pulled him into the water.

"Zamber!" Akira screamed in panic and hurriedly ran to the pool, but he was too late: Zamber was gone. Akira could do nothing. "No..."

"W-w-what the heck was that?" Joe said as he became frightened, but Dan ignored him and simply jumped into the pool.

"Marching Fishes!" Dan yelled, and suddenly small, colorful fish sprang out of the water. "Okay, dive in and rescue my Elecmon friend!" Dan commanded the fish, which then quickly swam down.

For a while, there was nothing, but then there were bubbles frothing in the middle of the pool. Something was going on down there.

"What's that?" Joe said. Soon, the answer became clear: the school of fish were swimming upwards in a cluster, with Zamber in their midst, much to Akira's delight. They then surfaced and Zamber stood on the fish shakily.

"Zamber!"

The Elecmon hopped and landed beside Akira. "Are you alright, buddy?" Akira asked worriedly, holding Zamber with his good hand.

Zamber didn't say anything; he merely gave a small nod as he tried to control his breaths.

Dan the Gomamon then swam away as fast as he could as something large, the same something from before, rose out of the water. Its body wasn't completely above the surface, but the giant drill on its face was a dead giveaway.

"Drimogemon!" Akira and Joe shouted at the same time.

"You again!" Dan yelled. "Well this time, I've got the advantage. Marching Fishes!" And on his command, the colorful fish all flew out of the water and rammed themselves at the Drimogemon.

The mole Digimon covered its body with its hands crossed in front of its chest, and countered by splaying them wide quickly. "Grrraaaaaaahh!" it yelled, and the fish were swatted away.

"Ah, no!" Dan looked in fear. The Drimogemon looked at him and raised its right hand. "Mole's Claw!" it shouted as it swung down in a swooping motion and hit Dan. The Rookie Digimon was flung towards the far side of the cave, right to the entrance to the mining room.

"Dan!" Joe ran towards his partner, while Akira grabbed his and pulled him away from the pool. "Urgh, he had us surprised. I thought he was gone for good."

"I'll make sure of that now," Zamber muttered under his breath. "Water conducts electricity, so I hope this hurts: Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!" **he shouted as he fired a huge lightning bolt at the water.

The attack connected, and the Drimogemon was electrified. "Groooaaaaaarrrrrr!" its roar echoed throughout the room, obviously in pain.

However, the attack wasn't enough to stop it, and the Drimogemon proceeded to jump out of the water and landed right in front of Akira and Zamber, right at the middle of the bend.

"Kill the Chosen Children..." it mumbled.

"What..." Akira started to say, but the Drimogemon cut him off by raising its right hand, the small drills on it spinning fast. "Mole's Claw!" and it brought its hand down in a jabbing fashion.

The attack forced Akira to jump and dodge. However, the Drimogemon quickly lifted its left hand and backhanded Akira, who still had Zamber in his arms. Akira used his back to shield Zamber and absorbed the impact with the wall, and they both fell down.

Akira dropped to his knees, propped up by his undamaged right arm. "Akira! No, not again!" Zamber became wide-eyed when he saw his partner hurt. Akira's left arm shook with tremor.

"Not this time! I won't let my partner get hurt! No way! I'll get you now! Heaaaaaaaahh!" Zamber charged headfirst towards the bigger Digimon.

"Wait Zamber!" Akira tried to call out to him, but Zamber wasn't listening. Instead, he kept firing electric shock attacks at the Drimogemon while circling it. The attacks hit their marks but the Drimogemon remain unfazed. For its part, the Drimogemon dug its claws under the ground and then shoved large chunks of earth out, raining dirt and rocks from the ground all over the place.

"Marching Fishes!" Dan yelled and some more fish jumped out of the water and rammed into the Drimogemon. It didn't work; the Drimogemon just kept standing there.

"Ugh, darn it, I can't do a thing..." Dan growled, biting his lip in despair.

"Dan, watch out!" Joe ran towards the Gomamon and pulled him out of the way, just as some big chunks of rock crashed to where he was standing.

"You okay?" Joe asked from Dan's right. Dan nodded, but he looked disappointed. "I'm sorry Joe. I'm too powerless. I can't even help my own friends."

"Don't worry 'bout it," Joe replied kindly. "Let's just think about how we'll get out of this mess, and then you can whine all you want."

"Hey, I don't whine; that's your thing!" Dan retorted, right as a red-and-blue Digimon crashed into Joe. Apparently, the Drimogemon managed to pick Zamber up with its claws and threw him.

"Joe! Zamber! NO!" Dan screamed, when he turned his face to his left and saw, to his horror, a giant spinning metallic drill rushing towards his face at an unbelievably high speed...


	18. Midnight Battle Underground  Part 3

Chapter 18: Midnight Battle Underground - Part 3

Dan the Gomamon hopped for all he's worth to avoid the Drimogemon's huge spinning drill that came for his face, and not a second too soon: the drill only missed him by a couple of centimeters.

However, the Drimogemon wasn't finished, and it flicked its head upwards, bringing along with it the drill on its nose, which, on its way up, hit the Gomamon and flung him high into the air.

"Uwaaaaaaaahhh!" Dan screamed before he hit the room's earthy roof, and then started to descend head first. On his way down, Dan managed to spot something on the Drimogemon's back.

"What's that?" he mumbled, before the Drimogemon itself also jumped into the air and used the big drill on its face to **slam** Dan back down towards the ground!

"Gwaargh!" Dan shouted in pain. Then the Drimogemon proceeded to stomp down hard on Dan. "Aaaaaaaaarrgh!"

"Nine Tails!" Zamber shouted and above Dan he slammed his electrically-charged tails against the Drimogemon's face. "Groaaaaaar!" the Drimogemon roared as it stumbled backwards before falling on its back, releasing Dan from its foot.

"Hhh... hhh... you okay?" Zamber asked Dan while keeping an eye on the Drimogemon, who was struggling to get up. "We have to take it down and fast. We can't keep fighting like this..."

"Zamber, listen. There's something stuck on its back. Something tells me that that might be the main problem here," Dan said to him.

"What do you mean 'main problem'? It's obvious that our main problem right now is this Drimogemon!"

"Yeah, but I think that something on its back is what's causing it to attack us. Maybe it's hurting it and that's why it's so violent. If we can somehow destroy it, maybe we can stop it."

"You think so?" Zamber asked.

"That's our best bet. Otherwise, Drimogemon's probably not gonna stop attacking us all night."

"Alright then, if you say so," Zamber replied as he turned his attention back towards the Drimogemon, who was, to his surprise, gone. A huge hole on the ground had taken its place.

"Ah! The Drimogemon's digging underground!" Dan exclaimed. "It could come up anywhere!"

The two Digimon waited in suspense as rumbling from a drill was becoming louder. "He's coming close!"

As if on cue, the ground beneath Zamber suddenly collapsed and the Drimogemon **crashed** through the earth's surface and directly hit Zamber from below, launching him up into the air just like Dan a minute ago!

"Gyaaaaaaah!" Zamber shouted loudly with fear.

"Zamber! No!" Dan screamed in panic as Zamber could do nothing as he plunged through the air, straight into the Drimogemon's rapidly spinning drill, ready to bore holes onto Zamber's body.

"Zaaambeeeeeeeeeeeeer!"

And then, taking everyone by surprise, was a brilliant flash of light emanating from somewhere near the mine room's entrance, and the light quickly enveloped Dan the Gomamon.

"What's this? What's going on? Help me!" the sound of Joe's panicking voice could be heard.

"Gomamon digivolves to... Ikkakumon!"

Suddenly, a giant, white-furred walrus with a great, big horn took Dan's place. Akira saw what happened and knew that Dan had just digivolved into his Champion-level. And with a pair of big ivory tusks, deep blue eyes, a big bulky body and huge claws on the ends of its legs, Akira couldn't help but feel a little intimidated.

"Dan..." he muttered.

"Whoa... what's that?" Joe said in awe from the other side of the room, not noticing the light that just went off from a small device attached to his bag's strap. "That thing... is that Dan?"

Without skipping a beat, the walrus swung its great horn against the Drimogemon's, forcing it to move away and allowed Zamber to safely land on the ground without getting drilled to death.

"Dan, you've digivolved!" Zamber said as he ran away from the two giants' fight.

"Yeah I did, and it feels great! I'm an Ikkakumon now!" he answered back with a big, bellowing voice. "I feel so much more powerful! In fact, how about... this!" Dan roared as he heaved and **stood** on his hind legs and **pushed** the Drimogemon away with his forelegs. The Drimogemon yelled as it impacted with the far wall and fell on all fours.

"Now, take this: Harpoon Torpedo!" Dan yelled as his horn literally **shot out** from his head, arching high in the air before the skin on it **popped** open and a** small torpedo** was revealed, complete with its own tiny rocket boosters!

The boosters propelled the torpedo down as gravity took control of it and it **smashed** onto the Drimogemon's back, exploding on impact. The Drimogemon roared and roared as if it was in unimaginable pain.

"Hey Dan, you're right. Its back **is** its weak spot!" Zamber said as he watched in awe.

The Ikkakumon responded, right as his horn **grew back.** "Not just its back, but what's **on** its back. Unfortunately I can only fire torpedoes, not control where they land. That's up to gravity."

"But you stall it by going horn to horn, right?" Zamber asked. Dan the Ikkakumon grinned.

"Of course! I have more than enough strength to just wrestle with it."

"Then leave the rest to me, buddy!" Zamber said as he ran towards Akira, wanting to get his human partner to safety first.

The Drimogemon regained its composure, and suddenly in the middle of the room, right at the bend near the pool, it was a face off between a giant mole with a giant spinning metal drill as its nose and a giant walrus with regrowable horns that can be fired at will that turn into self-propelling torpedoes.

With a loud roar, the Drimogemon lunged towards Dan. "Iron Drill Spin!" it yelled, and Dan matched it with his own big horn. The horns clashed and sparks flew from the rapidly-spinning drill on the Drimogemon. The Drimogemon and the Ikkakumon stared each other down.

The two Digimon were locked in a power struggle, with each of them trying to push the other off balance while growling at each other, but they seemed to be equally matched. Then at the same time, the two of them stopped pushing and readied themselves, before bashing their horns once more. The collision echoed loudly throughout the room.

"Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhh..." the Drimogemon grunted as it mustered all its strength to overpower its opponent.

"What's the matter, you little cave rat? Can't take the pressure?" Dan taunted it, when he himself was also pushing with every bit of strength he had.

After a while, the two retracted their horns once more, deciding that they were of equal physical strength. And then they started wildly bashing their horns against each other repeatedly, as if they were a pair swordsmen wielding blades.

"Hrooooaaaaaaaggggh!" Dan the Ikkakumon roared loudly to pump himself up, deafening the people in the room, while the Drimogemon followed up with its own frenzied yell. The two big Digimon kept bashing and mashing their horns at one another, trying to imbalance their opponents.

"Kill the Chosen Childreeeeeen!" the Drimogemon yelled out loud, matching Dan's roars as their horns keep colliding.

_Chosen Children?_ Dan mumbled in his head when he heard what the Drimogemon had just shouted out.

Then finally, Dan managed to bash a little harder than his worn-down opponent and the Drimogemon swerved a little to the side, losing its footing.

"Now!" Dan yelled, and Zamber quickly ran over and jumped onto Drimogemon's back.

"Hey, there's a black gear here..." Zamber noticed.

"Destroy it, Zamber!" Dan called out. "That thing's bad news, I just know it!"

Zamber examined the thing. _He's right. Something's not right with this thing..._ "Okay then Drimogemon, this'll hurt you much more than it'll hurt me." And he charged himself up, electricity surging through his entire body.

"Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**"

This time, Zamber's big electrical bolt was not fired, but channeled through his paws towards the black gear that was lodged on the Drimogemon's back. The sheer high voltage of the attack caused the Drimogemon to rampage across the room, screaming maniacally.

"Aaaaaaargh groooaaaaar nooooooooo!" it yelled as it squirmed and tried to get Zamber loose, but Zamber did his best to hold on and before long, the gear was destroyed in an explosion.

The result of the explosion threw Zamber all the way to the pool, while the Drimogemon fell to the ground, electricity still running within it. Then it jabbed the ground with its forelegs and the electricity crossed through its smaller drills and into the ground, leaving its body, and shortly after that the Drimogemon fell unconscious.

"Hhh... that'll teach ya to mess with me. I mean us," Dan said, before light emanated from his body and he shrunk back to a Gomamon. Joe neared him, a look of absolute bewilderment on his face.

"Would somebody mind telling me what in the world just happened?" he asked. Dan just looked at him, smiling mischievously as usual as Akira ran to the pool to pick Zamber up.

"Let's just get outta this danged tunnel first. I'll tell ya all about digivolution then, Joe," he said. And so Joe, Dan, Akira, and Zamber quickly ran as fast as they could, following the path they were on. Luckily for them, the lights on the ceiling went all the way to the exit, and even though there were a few more bends along the path, the group soon found themselves out of Drill Tunnel.


	19. The Little Guys

Chapter 19: The Little Guys

"**Now** where do you think we are, Takeru?" a small, brownish-orange creature said to a small, young boy wearing green clothes, a green cap and short brown pants.

The creature was four-legged and was somewhat shaped like a guinea pig. The top half of its body was brownish-orange in color, while its underside is white. However, its most distinguishing feature is the pair of large ears shaped like a bat's wings. These were also brownish-orange.

As for the young boy, he was small and had short blonde hair with bangs that protrude out of his cap, which was turned backwards. He had yellow socks and grayish shoes, and he looked around rather frantically, as though he's horribly lost.

Maybe he is.

"Why are you asking me, Seraqui? You're the one who told me to go this way!" the boy, Takeru, complained as he kept walking through fields of green grass and bushes.

"Yeah, but I thought it would lead us somewhere. You were the one who kept saying you're tired of spending two nights in a row in the forest!" Seraqui replied while walking beside Takeru.

The young boy looked back at Seraqui, annoyed. "Well your directions aren't taking us anywhere different."

"And how is that supposed to be my fault? It's not like I know my way around here," Seraqui defended himself.

"Hmph. And you can't fly very well either. Why must I be partnered to a Patamon?" Takeru mumbled grumpily.

"Well, soor-rryyy for being so weak and useless," Seraqui the Patamon retorted angrily. "It's not like I ever **chose** to be partnered to a whiny little baby too, you know."

Takeru was flustered. "I'm not a baby!"

"Then how come you cried through the first night you were here?" the Patamon mocked him.

"Hey, I miss big brother, okay?" Takeru yelled towards his Digimon partner. "I... haven't seen him for a long time, and... and..." the young boy's voice began to waver. "...and this summer camp was supposed to be our chance to hang out and do stuff together, but..." and then he fell quiet.

Seraqui looked at his human partner, annoyance turned into pity. "Oh, I'm sorry, Takeru. I didn't know you and Yamato were separated," he said. "Why can't you see him more often?"

Takeru blinked a few times, and then replied, "None of your beeswax, okay Seraqui?"

"Oooh, somebody's grouchy," Seraqui commented apathetically, and Takeru ignored it. They kept walking through the fields, as they had been all day long yesterday.

The fields they were walking through were divided into several smaller areas, and in each area there were a number of plant-like Digimon roaming around, like Mushroomon and Aruraumon. Takeru was scared of them at first, but none of them attacked him and his partner, so they just kept walking along.

"I wonder where Yamato could be..." Takeru said with a sigh.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine. He's got a Digimon partner as well, remember?" Seraqui reminded Takeru, when all of a sudden there was rustling in the bushes to their left.

From the sound its making, both Takeru and Seraqui came to the same conclusion: whatever was coming was big, bigger than any Digimon Takeru has ever seen.

"What could be making that sound?" Takeru asked Seraqui nervously.

The Patamon shook its head frightfully. "I'm not sure..."

The rustling of the bushes got louder, and Takeru instinctively grabbed hold of Seraqui out of fear. Seraqui did the same.

"W-w-whaddya think we should do, Seraqui?" Takeru stammered.

"I-I don't know," Seraqui answered. "Maybe we should run away?"

Then from behind the bushes, there was a low grumbling sound, like some sort of ferocious wild animal hungry for a big, scrumptious meal, looking around for fresh meat and blood to take back to its den and devour wildly until not even the bones are left.

"I'm with you there. Let's ruuuuuuuun! Aaaaaaaaaaah!" Takeru yelled, and he ran away screaming, with Seraqui doing the same on his shoulder. After a while, Takeru stopped screaming and started panting.

"Hah... hah... hah..." He was quickly losing his breath.

"Don't stop Takeru! That thing's gaining on us!" Seraqui shouted to him without even looking back.

"Well... hhh... you should... hhh... work out... hhh... some more... Seraqui!" Takeru tried to respond while he ran. The pair of little guys headed north, into another small green field, and then they turned and entered a totally different place.

But those two were too frightened to realize that fact, and as soon as they came into the new place, Takeru bent over on his knees, trying to catch his breath. So did Seraqui as he got off of Takeru's shoulder.

"Hhh... hhh..." the both of them were tired and tried to calm down, which was really odd because Seraqui was on Takeru's shoulder all the way and didn't actually **run.**

After they controlled their breaths, they took notice of their surroundings. They were in a round clearing, surrounded by trees. In the distance, there was a waterfall whose powerful rumbling can be heard all the way to where they were now, and they were standing on a floor made of iron.

But none of that mattered to Takeru and Seraqui, for their gazes fell upon dozens of small, blob-ish Digimon with undefined body parts, who were all looking at them, and had been since they first entered the clearing.

"Uh-oh. I think we're in trouble..." Takeru said worriedly as he looked from right to left and saw that he and Seraqui were surrounded by the cute, round little Digimon with curious looks.

Seraqui smiled widely. "Relax, Takeru. All of these Digimon are in the Fresh and In-Training levels, which are below Rookies. We're not in trouble," he said.

"Really?"

"Yep. Look, there's even a Tokomon over there!" Seraqui pointed with one of his legs. "Do you remember? I was a Tokomon when you met me!"

Takeru looked to where Seraqui pointed and saw a tiny, pinkish-white bun-shaped Digimon with long appendages above its eyes that looked like they could be ears. A Patamon's In-Training form, as Takeru has been told.

"Oh yeaahh, you're right!" Takeru exclaimed happily. The In-Training Digimon, in turn, all smiled back.

"Welcome, welcome!" they cheered to the pair. "Welcome to our town, our town! Our town of File City, File City!"

Takeru raised an eyebrow. "File City? Is that what this place is called? But it's so... empty. There aren't any buildings around. It doesn't look like a city to me."

A red, round Digimon with three small horns and no apparent mouth answered him. "Well, that's just the way it is here, sonny boy. You don't like it, you get on outta here!"

"Don't say that, Pampivi!" another Digimon, a slightly-bigger round Digimon, pink in color with a blue flower growing atop it said. "Sorry about that, that Pampivi likes to think he's the mayor of the city or something. He's a Punimon, by the way."

"A Punimon... Okay, gotcha," Takeru said to the new Digimon. "This is Seraqui, my partner. He's a Patamon. And my name's Takeru. I'm a human."

"A Humon? Never heard of that one before..." one of the Digimon spoke up inquisitively.

"No no, not 'humon', 'human'. I'm not a Digimon," Takeru explained.

"Not a Digimon? Then what are you?" someone else inquired.

"Like I said, I'm a human."

"What does a human do? Do you breathe fire? Or maybe ice? " asked yet another Digimon.

Takeru was confused. "Do? I don't know... We definitely don't breathe fire or ice, that's for sure..."

"Whaaaaaaat? You don't?" A green sprout-like Digimon was surprised. "Well, do you shoot vines, thorns or flowers out of your fingertips?"

"No, not that either..." Takeru scratched his cheek while smiling awkwardly.

"What about spitting acid? I can spit acid, can you spit acid?" Pampivi asked.

The boy sat down, and so did Seraqui. "Nope, can't do that either."

Pampivi frowned. Or at least, that's what he looked like was doing to Takeru. "Hmph, then humans are boring! Young people these days, what're they thinking? Can't spit acid, can you believe that..."

"Stop that, Pampivi, come on!" the flowery Digimon from before scolded him again. "Sorry again about that. He's still young, and we don't get a lot of visitors here, so he's not used to being polite."

"He he he, don't worry about it." Takeru waved his hand as he grinned. "By the way, what's your name? And... what are you?"

"Who, me? Oh, silly me, I haven't introduced myself, have I?" the pink flowery ball responded joyfully. "My name's Cindriva, and I'm a Yokomon!"

"Hi there, nice to meet you, Cindriva!" Seraqui said, and Takeru nodded excitedly.

"Nice to meet you too!" Cindriva replied. "As we've said, this is File City. Most of the Digimon who live here are Fresh and In-Training Digimon. There are lots of kinds of young Digimon here, like a Botamon there, and the Tokomon you already know about. We've got some Koromon here, and Tsunomon over there, and of course there are plenty of Yokomon too, besides me. And that's a Tanemon, and the gossipy Yuramon, and..."

As Cindriva the happy Yokomon mentioned each and everyone in the group, the Digimon jumped or hopped in place with fervor, and Takeru diligently tried to remember which Digimon is what species. There were a lot of them, and they were all so small and round!

"Alright then, nice to meet all of you!" Takeru remarked after Cindriva was done. Then he turned to her. "So are you the leader here?"

"Leader? No way, not her. I'm the leader!" Pampivi chimed in. Cindriva cast him a look, and he closed his (unseen) mouth.

"No, I'm not the leader. The Elders head this city, the city of rebirth," she said.

"The city of rebirth?" Takeru asked.

"Yes, that's right. File City is the city of rebirth!" The Tanemon from before answered him.

"Why is it called that?"

A ghostly white slime ball known as a Poyomon addressed him. "Well, you see, every now and then a Digi-Egg forms inside the Elders' house, and in less than a day, that Digi-Egg will hatch into a Fresh-level Digimon!"

"What?" Takeru was confused. "A Digi-Egg? Is that where all Digimon come from?"

"I think so. At least, all of us here were hatched from Digi-Eggs in this city, and then the Elders took care of all of us," the Poyomon answered.

"Yes yes, all of us," the Yuramon continued. "And the elders said that the Digi-Eggs used to be Digimon. When Digimon lose a life, sometimes they get transformed into Digi-Eggs and then transported to File City, where they hatch and grow all over again, starting from their most basic form. That's what I hear, anyway," he added with a chuckle.

"That's why File City is called the city of rebirth!" Another pink ball Digimon with long appendages by the name of a Koromon added.

"How do the Digi-Eggs get to File City?" Seraqui asked. "I mean, they don't just pop out from thin air, do they?"

"Actually, they do," Cindriva answered. "Believe it or not, we don't know how, when or from where the Digi-Eggs come. They just do. And the Elders won't tell us more about it."

"And who are the Elders?"

"Elder Jijimon and Elder Babamon. They're a couple of very nice Digimon, and strong too. They're very reliable," A black ball Digimon, a Botamon, stated.

Pampivi chimed in again. "And someday, I'll grow up to be just as strong and kind-hearted as the Elders! That's why I have to be the leader here!"

"So that's why you're so intent on acting bossy. You want to take over from the Elders, is that right?" Takeru joked.

The Punimon's face became red, even though he was already red in color. "Well, not that way! I'm not planning a hostile takeover, if that's what you're impying, sonny boy..."

The other Digimon laughed, and so did Takeru and Seraqui. Then Takeru stopped, and smiled to himself. "The Elders sound just like Yamato."

"Who's Tomato?" the Yuramon asked quickly.

"Not 'Tomato', it's 'Yamato' He's my big brother," Takeru corrected. "He's also very strong and dependable, but is always nice to everyone around him. Many people think he's a loner, but I think it makes him look cool, because even if you can't see it, Yamato's always thinking of his friends."

"Hoooo..." the Digimon chorused together.

"Sounds like he's a very great guy," Cindriva said.

"He is. He's awesome, and the best big brother in the world!" Takeru replied. "But I don't know where he is right now, and I'm worried..."

"Is he here in the Digital World?" an orange ball with a horn that's bigger than itself asked. Takeru nodded to answer the Tsunomon's question.

"Then how come you two aren't together?" the Yuramon asked again, curiosity evident in its wispy voice.

Takeru was silent for a while, before finally he opened his mouth. "Well you see, I came to this world together with my friends and my big brother. It was very sudden and none of us expected it. Then we met our Digimon partners, all of us..." Takeru looked at Seraqui.

"But then suddenly there were these nasty things called Goburimon. They chased all of us here and there through the forest and the fields and suddenly we got separated from each other. I've been trying to find my friends and my brother for the past two days, but so far no luck."

The Fresh and In-Training Digimon observed Takeru, who fell quiet again. Seraqui held out his leg and gently patted his partner. Then another Botamon comforted him. "Don't worry. If your brother is anything like our Elders like you say, then he must be fine. I'm sure you'll see him and all of your friends really soon!"

Takeru smiled. "Thank you, I guess you're right," he said, and then he added, "Looks like you guys really look up to your Elders."

Another round, pink blob, slightly taller than the others, responded. "Yeah, totally! But we haven't seen them around lately..." the Motimon said.

"What? Why's that?" Seraqui asked.

"We don't know. We think there's some sort of trouble," the Tanemon spoke up. "They've been gone for a few days now..."

"A few days?" Takeru repeated in surprise. "But, I thought the Elders run this city! They lead File City, right? If they're not here, then who're taking care of you guys?"

"Well, we can take care of ourselves," Pampivi answered. "We might be young and we might be small, but we're not powerless. Even though we rely on the Elders, that doesn't mean we're helpless when they're gone."

The Punimon's words struck the young boy, and he became silent again as he took those words to heart, He immediately thought of how he'd felt and how he'd acted for the last two days.

_Whoa! These guys, they're smaller and younger than I am, but they can stand by themselves when they have to! Amazing..._ he thought. _And to think, I cried the whole night out when I realized Yamato wasn't there to protect me in this strange world..._ _what a baby I've been..._

Takeru was so deep in thought that he barely heard someone said, "Of course, living in a city isolated from the rest of the island probably helps, too."

Seraqui continued the conversation. "So the Elders aren't around, huh? But you're okay with that?"

"Of course! We can't always rely on the Elders, now can we? We'll never grow up if we do," Cindriva replied, and Takeru's heart nearly missed a beat. "Besides, there's always something you can find to do here, like the Green Gym on the outskirts of the city, or you could go explore the abandoned storage room on the other side..."

"Don't forget about the meat farm!" the Tanemon chirped.

"Or the waterfall and the lake! You can splash around all you like there!" a gray seal-like Digimon called a Bukamon beamed.

As the cluster of young Digimon spoke with Seraqui about the things and places in the city in excitement, Takeru merely listened in silence. He was wondering what he should do. And he wondered what Yamato could be doing right now.

"Big brother, where are you? I hope you're alright..." he mumbled to himself. "I miss you."


	20. Meeting

Chapter 20: Meeting

After a long rest near the exit of Drill Tunnel, Akira's group of four traveled on a long, narrow straight path. On the left side was a mountainface, and to the right there was a cliff that lead to a sandy plain. It wasn't a sheer drop down.

"That's not the same lake from two nights ago, is it Zamber?" Akira pointed at a lake that spanned out away from the sand as Joe and Dan were arguing again at the front.

"I don't think so, but... I'm not sure," Zamber answered. "Hmm..."

They walked for a while longer until they arrived at a very thick growth of small trees and bushes. The leaves and bushes made it hard to see through the cluster of plants.

Dan peeked his head into the mini forest, and after looking around for a few seconds, he called out the rest of them. "'Kay, it's clear guys. Nothin's around here." And he went in deeper.

Akira and Zamber followed him, and Joe did too, after a few moments of fearful hesitation. The four of them walked and swatted away leaves and rustled up the bushes, and Joe was worried they were making too much noise.

"Hey, don't you guys think we're being too loud here?" he asked them. "We might attract something like that Drimogemon."

"Oh not again, Joe. Drimogemon usually only live in caves or under the ground. They don't do well above the surface, so stop bein' such a stick in the mud," Dan said from the front.

"I know, but I said 'something **like **that Drimogemon', Dan!" Joe replied, irritated. Dan chuckled. Then his stomach grumbled loudly.

"I forgot we haven't had any breakfast. I gotta stop teasin' Joe for a while..." he muttered to himself when he saw a bright ray of daylight shining through the thick vegetation in front of him.

Dan grinned. "Hey guys, I think we're almost out!" And he rushed through, still batting away as many leaves as his small, seal-like flippers could handle. Suddenly, without warning...

"...Let's ruuuuuuuun! Aaaaaaaaaaah!"

The Gomamon was taken aback by that loud noise that seemed to come from somewhere in front of him. Dan bounded backwards out of surprise. "WOAH!'

"What was that?" Zamber inquired as he neared Dan, with Akira beside him. "What happened? Whose scream was that?"

"I don't know. It just... came out of nowhere and totally took me by surprise!" Dan answered, his face flustered. "Man, that was unsettlin'..."

However, Joe's ears perked up when he heard the scream, and oddly this time he didn't panic. In fact, he became excited. "That voice... that was Takeru!" he exclaimed.

"Who? Takeru?" Akira asked him. Joe nodded in response.

"Yeah, he's the little brother of one of my friends, Yamato! He was also at the summer camp," Joe explained to them as he quickly trod to the front in hopes of seeing the owner of the voice. "Takeru! Takeru, it's me, Joe!" he called out.

"So now he's bein' loud..." Dan commented as Joe passed him and went straight to the exit, brushing aside several big leaves that were in the way of his face and finally made it out. He stepped onto a field of grass where the wind blew smoothly.

Joe looked around with spirit. He looked to his right and saw a path leading up to a much larger grassy field. There were several Digimon roaming the place. He turned his head the other way and, after squinting, saw a small shape of a boy running off in the distance. Screaming.

"That's him! That's Takeru!" he smiled widely as he saw his youngest friend. "Hey Takeru, it's me, Joe! Come back!"

But Takeru was too busy running away while screaming at the top of his lungs to hear Joe call out his name. Joe sighed. "What could possibly get him to run away that fast..."

The bushes rustled again and Dan popped out. "Hey Joe, so where's your friend?"

"He ran away in that direction. I couldn't get his attention, he was running too fast," Joe said as Akira and Zamber also came out of the thick vegetation.

"Hey! This is the same path that Taichi and I went through yesterday!" Akira exclaimed.

"Really? You've been here before?" Joe asked.

"Yeah. Yesterday Zamber and I walked through this path with Taichi and his Digimon partner, Valcrist! We went that way," he pointed to their left, "which lead us to the mountains."

Dan looked to where Akira pointed. "What way?"

"Huh?" Akira looked too, and was surprised to see that the path up the mountains he and Taichi hiked through yesterday was gone. "But, but... that wasn't there before!"

Zamber also looked and was also surprised. "How did **that** get there?"

Dan shrugged, and for a moment, no one said anything. Then Joe broke the silence. "Well, if everybody's done being confused, can we go after Takeru now?"

"Oh, yeah right. Let's go then!" Akira said, and Joe nodded. The group was just about to run to catch up with Takeru, when suddenly Zamber froze.

". . . . ."

Akira noticed his partner becoming unmoving in a second. "What's up, Zamber?"

The Elecmon suddenly changed expressions. One moment he looked casual, and the next he had an intense look on his face, like something was alerting him. Something bad.

"Joe, Dan, you guys go on ahead. I'll stay here for a minute," he said in a tone that made it sound less like a suggestion and more like an order. Then he looked at his human partner. "You too, Akira."

"What, why? Zamber, what's going on?" Akira asked. Zamber was quiet for a while before answering.

"Trust me, you better go on with Joe and Dan." And he turned back and ran through the mini forest once more.

Akira instantly chased after him. "Zamber, hey wait! I'm not leaving you alone. Come back!"

"What do you suppose is going on?" Joe asked.

"Beats me. Let's follow 'em!" Dan replied.

Zamber burst through the bushes first, followed by Akira shortly after. "What's going on with you? Why'd you suddenly run off like that?" Akira demanded.

Zamber said nothing; he merely stared at the mouth of the Drill Tunnel some meters away. Akira stared at it too, and at first he saw nothing but a gaping black of the cave's dark insides.

However, then he heard footsteps. They were coming from inside the tunnel. And then, much to Akira's astonishment, something familiar stepped out of the tunnel. Upon seeing this certain something, Zamber growled, tails raised.

One something. Two somethings. Three somethings. They were all of the same shape and size, and they had the same coloration. Akira didn't move. As Joe and Dan finally caught up with them, the fourth and final something came stepping out of the tunnel, taking Akira's breath away.

His eyes enlarging, he turned to the older boy and the Gomamon. "Joe, Dan, you better get out of here," he said to them quietly as the last something was coming into view.

"What?" Joe asked, incredulous. "Why?"

"Trust me, you better go on ahead," he repeated what Zamber said to them a minute ago. "Go to where Takeru went. He's still just a little kid, right? He'll appreciate your presence." He smiled at Joe. "Don't worry, we'll catch up with you as soon as we're done with this."

Joe was confused. "Done with what, exactly?"

"Joe," Dan said from beside him, "I think we better leave. You'll wanna leave anyway."

"What?" As Joe said that, his eyes fell on the last Digimon to step out of the Drill Tunnel. In no time at all, Joe shook with fear, and he gulped with fright.

"Wait, you know that thing?"

Akira nodded as Zamber growled again, this time sounding more like a wild animal trying to intimidate his enemy. There was hate in his eyes. A fierce, determined, passionate look of hate.

"Joe, let's go," Dan told him again.

"I can't just leave-"

"Joe, this is no time to have an identity crisis and start acting brave," Dan scolded him. "You've always wanted to run from scary, dangerous Digimon, right? Well lemme tell ya, **that's** a scary, dangerous Digimon, and with a reputation to boot. This is the perfect time to run away, and no one's gonna blame ya for it. So let's go!"

Joe couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're asking me to abandon Akira and Zamber in the face of **that** thing?"

"I'm tellin' ya that this is their business and we should leave 'em to deal with it," Dan responded. "Besides, do you wanna find Takeru or not? If we take too long here, we might lose his trail," he added.

The boy fell silent. Dan was making a good point. Two good points at that. He turned to Akira and Zamber, who were already gone from where they were standing and started walking towards the middle of the path, as if they were about to meet the opposition in the middle.

He inhaled, and closed his eyes. _Okay, Joe. Think about this calmly. What should I do? _he asked himself in his head.

"Joe," Dan called out to him.

_Do I leave my friends? But I have to find Takeru. But Akira's still hurt. But there's Zamber beside him, and he's powerful. But then again, there are four them..._

"Joe!"

"Oh fine! Let's go, then!" he shouted, before he picked Dan up and turned to Akira. "Akira, you know where I said Takeru went, right? Follow us after you're done here!"

And he scampered away with Dan the Gomamon. Akira merely smirked.

"Good morning, little punks," The last something greeted them, unusually polite.

"Hello, Stravel. Nice to see you're still up and running," Zamber replied, sparks flying off his tails as he neared the three Goburimon that came with the Ogremon.

"He he he, the feeling's mutual..." Stravel grinned with malice as the his three goblin underlings started to surround Zamber the Elecmon, each of them holding their bone clubs in their hands with menace.

But to Zamber's surprise, Stravel raised his left arm. "No," He said in a raspy voice. "Leave the little one to me. You do whatever you like..." he then looked at Akira "to whomever you like."

The Goburimon looked at each other, and then smiled. They then left Zamber alone and started walking to Akira, who breathed deeply as he saw who he was going up against. Zamber squinted his eyes to Stravel, that hateful look intensifying, a look that was returned in full force by Stravel.

"Well then," he said, still maintaining a polite tone, "let's get started, shall we?"


	21. Rivalry  Part 1

Chapter 21: Rivalry – Part 1

Joe ran through the green fields, following the direction Takeru went, with his partner Dan the Gomamon in his arms, since Dan can't run very fast.

"Alright, so tell me what that big green Digimon was, Dan," he asked Dan as he kept running. He wasn't running very fast since he didn't want to tire himself out.

Dan looked at Joe. "That was an Ogremon, a Champion-level Digimon. That particular Ogremon's name is Stravel, and he is notorious here. I know he's Stravel because there's only one Ogremon on this island."

"Notorious how?"

"Well, he's known to some as the 'Digimon Hunter'. He leads a large group of Goburimon called the 'Goblin Gang', and together they have conquered the southern part of the whole island."

"Oh my," Joe stopped for a while to catch his breath, and then looked around to see any signs of Takeru. "So he's a bad Digimon, huh?"

"And strong," Dan added. "Stravel and the Goblin Gang wander through the island, terrorizing weaker Digimon. They force other Digimon to give them their food or other valuables their victims might have. But Stravel never stay in any one location; he moves from place to place now and then to find new things to take possession of."

"So he's basically a wandering bandit?"

"A wandering bandit with an army of Goburimon under his command."

"I see." Joe was quiet for a moment, trying to decide which way to go. Then he made up his mind and began running again. "How come Akira and Zamber seem to know someone like that?"

"My guess is he's probably the Digimon that beat them up."

"Wait, but if that's the case, then was it really a good idea to leave those two behind against such an enemy?"

"Don't worry. You've seen Zamber in action, right? They'll be fine," Dan said, and then he added, "And like I said, this is their business. We really shouldn't butt in. And we have to find your friend as well."

Joe heard a waterfall in the distance. "Yeah, I suppose. Let's just hope for the best, then."

XXXXXXX

Zamber's look of hate did not let up. "Akira's in no condition to beat your green goons up, Stravel. Call them off; this is between you and me."

"Oh, I fully agree," the Ogremon responded. "That's why I specifically asked them to go do whatever they like and leave us alone. If they attack the boy," he looked at Akira, who was warily moving backwards, holding his left arm, "it's not really my fault, is it?"

And then he grinned evilly. Zamber snarled. "You sicken me!"

"Yeah? Well like I said, the feeling's mutual!" Stravel howled to pump himself up as he ran to Zamber, who in turn ran towards Stravel.

"Super Thunder..." he prepared to attack, his tails lighting up.

Stravel raised his left arm. "Pummel Whack!"

Zamber ducked low, and then released an electrical bolt from his tails. "...Strike!"

The attack was launched from his tails **backwards,** so the force of the attack propelled Zamber forwards at high speed, avoiding the Pummel Whack. Zamber was launched above the ground, which then the Elecmon immediately grabbed hold of with his forelegs and raised his rear legs and rolled forwards, headfirst right as he neared the Ogremon.

"Nine Tails!" he shouted as his electrically-charged tails came to the top during his roll. The attack landed right on Stravel's groin and Zamber rolled through the gap between Stravel's legs.

Stravel reflexively crossed his legs and grabbed his groin in pain, his eyes tearing. "Urgh!" he yelled out. After completing his roll, Zamber hopped away from his enemy.

"Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**"

The electrical bolt struck Stravel on the back and he was pushed forwards until he fell on the ground.

Stravel got up and he turned to Zamber, who was already bouncing off towards him. The Ogremon raised the bone club in his right hand and jabbed powerfully. "Bone Cudgel!" he shouted, but the Elecmon quickly jumped into the air and dodged the hit.

Without warning, Zamber hugged the bone club. "Eat this: Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**" And like last night, the attack wasn't fired at Stravel, but was channeled through Zamber's legs, and the electricity traveled from his tails to his paws to the club and finally to Stravel himself, who got electrocuted.

"Aaaaaaaaaggghhhhhhhhh!" he yelled in pain as he convulsed violently in pain, wildly swinging his bone club to shake Zamber loose, but the Rookie Digimon had a firm grasp on the bone club and was clinging onto it to continue shocking Stravel.

But then, Stravel regained control of his body for a short while, and he managed to swing down his club onto the ground and smacked Zamber three times with it, until finally Zamber let go and the electricity stopped flowing into him. Stravel jumped back and inhaled deeply.

"Hah... hah..." he breathed. "Somebody's learned a new trick."

Zamber got to his feet, trying to recharge himself for the next attack. "Heh. He he he... There's a lot more where that came from, Stravel."

"Huaaaaaaaarrrrrrgghhhh!" Stravel bellowed loudly as Zamber dashed towards him once more, and then he twirled the bone club in his right hand. "Bone Cudgel, **rapid spin!**"

Then he threw the club like a boomerang, which was spinning rapidly, at Zamber's direction. Zamber dodged it by jumping into the air without missing a beat. But then...

_Uh-oh, that was a bad move, _he thought, right as Stravel brought his left arm up to meet the Elecmon's face. The mean left straight hit home and Zamber felt dazed.

"Pummel Whack!" Stravel shouted and purple-energy blasted out of his hand at **point blank** at Zamber! Zamber was flung far and high into the air until he hit the top of Drill Tunnel's entrance, before he fell on the ground.

Zamber struggled to get up when he saw the big hole on the ground the Bone Cudgel attack made. Stravel was there and he picked his bone club up. "You're not the only one with new tricks."

Zamber stood up but he was wobbly. He felt dizzy. He even saw two Stravels for a second. He blinked a few times and tried to shake it off.

Stravel neared Zamber. "Y'know, I was actually worried for a while that that Drimogemon in the tunnel was going to kill you before I do." He pointed at Drill Tunnel that was behind Zamber. "But you showed I didn't need to worry. You're strong enough to let me kill you personally."

There was a look of realization on Zamber's face. "I see. It was your ugly presence I sensed last night, before we went in to the tunnel."

Stravel shook his head. "Nope, got that wrong. It was them." He pointed at his Goburimon underlings with his thumb. "They saw you and that Gomamon collecting fruit and decided to inform me about it. I was still recovering from that pile of wood you brought down on me, so I was a bit late to the party. But I found your trail and followed you and here we are now."

Zamber said nothing in return, for at that moment his eyes landed on something and he knew he had to stop battling for now.

But that wasn't the case with Stravel; as soon as he saw the Elecmon off guard, he attacked. "Pummel Whack!" he shouted as he launched another purple energy blast from his left fist. Zamber reacted quickly to avoid a direct hit, and then countered with an attack of his own.

"Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**" He fired off a huge lightning bolt attack at the Ogremon.

"Pummel Whack!" Stravel responded with his own attack.

The two attacks collided in midair and they exploded.

XXXXXXX

"Well, this doesn't look good..." Akira muttered as the three Goburimon neared him. They were surrounding him, their bone clubs raised above their ugly little mohawk heads. Beyond the three thugs, Akira could see Zamber and Stravel exchanging small talk, before his view was blocked by the Goburimon.

"He he he, we're gonna make you wish you never messed with the boss," the nearest Goburimon said to Akira. Akira snorted.

"Boss, huh? You call that big ugly bozo your boss?" Akira taunted. "Man, how big of bozos are you guys to follow him around?"

"Looks like we need to teach this brat how to shut his mouth," another one of them, the ugliest of the lot, said.

"Agreed," the last Goburimon, the fattest of them all, nodded his head, before he addressed the nearest, dumbest-looking Goburimon. "Mahzora, you take 'im."

The Goburimon named Mahzora smiled and showed his yellowing brownish teeth. "Heh. Goburi Strike!" he shouted as he came at Akira and swung his bone club down.

Akira sidestepped to the right, turned his body to the left as he did so and then thrust his right elbow at the middle of Mahzora's ribs, which was then quickly followed by Akira raising his right forearm to backhand Mahzora's face, and then he brought it down hard to hit Mahzora's groin with his right fist.

The dumb Goburimon squealed in pain, but Akira wasn't finished: he delivered a hit with his left knee to the Goburimon's stomach, forcing him to bend over, before his nape was crushed by Akira's right elbow and he fell on the ground. Akira stomped on his nape and Mahzora passed out.

The other two simply stood there, dumbstruck. Akira turned to face them, smirking. "Bozo."

"Huaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" The ugly Goburimon went straight for him. "Goburi Strike!" He was madly swinging his bone club at Akira. Akira ducked to avoid it and swerved swiftly to the Goburimon's side when he heard "Goburi Bomb!". He stood upright again just in time to see a fireball flying right towards his face, courtesy of the fat Goburimon.

Akira lowered his head in the nick of time and the fireball hit the back of the ugly Goburimon's head and he went sprawling to the ground. The boy scrambled to avoid another Goburi Bomb and he dropped to his knees. Before getting up again, he picked up the dumb Goburimon's bone club and then he stood up.

"Goburi Bomb!" The fat Goburimon fired for the third time. Akira swung the bone club from the side in hopes of deflecting the fireball, but he missed and the fireball hit his right shoulder, which became singed.

"Aaaaaaaahhhh, that's hot, that's hot!" he cried out as he spun his shoulder to try and cool it down. "I knew I should've taken up baseball..."

"Goburi Bomb!" The Goburimon threw another one at Akira, a low throw this time. Akira focused and this time he brought the club down and hit the fireball, which flew to the ground at Akira's feet. Akira jumped back and readied himself to deflect another one, when suddenly the ugly Goburimon slipped both his arms underneath Akira's armpits, locking his arms in place.

Both of Akira's arms were outstretched and now he can't move them. "Ugghhh, that hurt," he uttered when the Goburimon's left arm squeezed his injured left arm. Akira wasn't going to let his opponents know his weak spot; they were, after all, too dumb to realize it in the first place. But now the pain is increasing and he needs to do something fast.

To add to his concerns, the fat Goburimon smiled and started concentrating to form a bigger a fireball than usual. But it was the scene beyond him that took Akira's attention: Zamber had been flung to the entrance of Drill Tunnel by a Pummel Whack from Stravel, who was now advancing at the Elecmon with murderous intent.

The pain Akira felt must've shown on his face, because when their eyes met Zamber's look of intense hate suddenly became one of great worry. Akira pointed to the mini forest with his head a little, and Zamber nodded. Fortunately, the Goburimon he was fighting didn't realize he was communicating with Zamber, and simply thought he was flexing his neck muscles.

"Goburi Bomb, **big ball!**" The fat Goburimon yelled as he pitched a large fireball towards Akira. The boy couldn't move anywhere, so he immediately loosened his fingers so that he was holding Mahzora's bone club with the tip of his hands, and then he snapped his right wrist forwards, throwing the club at the Goburimon's face **right before** he threw the fireball!

"Oourgh!" he screamed when his cheek got hit by the bone club Akira flung at him. Then Akira lowered his head so much that his chin met his chest, and so the big fireball struck the ugly Goburimon's face instead as an explosion occurred somewhere.

"Huuaaarrrghhh!" the Goburimon yelled, letting go of Akira to cover his face. Akira quickly brought his right elbow down to the ugly Goburimon's chest and then he turned and punched the Digimon's face, knocking him down flat on his back.

"Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**" Zamber's attack came from behind Akira and then the last Goburimon, the fat one, was thrown to Akira's left. He paid no mind and started running, stepping on the ugly Goburimon on the way. Something red and blue followed him shortly.

"Hey, come back here, you cowards!" They could hear Stravel shouting at the top of his lungs, before he ran after the two of them.


	22. Rivalry  Part 2

Chapter 22: Rivalry – Part 2

Taichi looked up at the towering pile of massive rocks that loomed over his group. He was confused. "This wasn't here yesterday!"

Valcrist the Agumon and Reye the Tentomon neared it as well. "How're we going to get past this?"

Taichi crossed his arms and frowned. "I'm not sure. Any ideas?" he asked nobody in particular.

"Well, we certainly can't climb," Sora said. "These rocks are way too big and dangerous."

"Maybe we can fly over it," Riella the Biyomon suggested. "I could digivolve to Birdramon and carry all of you."

"Good idea, but how would you do that?" Taichi asked. "As far as I know, these things..." he took out his mysterious white device. "... only work when we're in some sort of danger." He then proceeded to look around. "There's nothing even remotely dangerous around here."

Koshiro observed his own device. "I wonder if that's true..."

"Whaddya mean?" Valcrist asked.

He turned to look at him. "Well, according to Taichi's explanation, this device works when the human partners of the Digimon are in danger, right?"

"Uh-huh, and?" Taichi nodded as he listened carefully.

"Well when Reye digivolved, I don't think I was in any danger. I mean, I was but I wasn't in any **specific** danger, right?" he pointed out. "Maybe it's not activated when the human partner's in danger after all."

Sora nodded in agreement. "That does make sense. The Unimon wasn't attacking Koshiro in any way when Reye digivolved."

"So then, what could possibly be the trigger?" Valcrist asked, like his partner, no one in particular. They all fell quiet, thinking.

"What if... what if it has nothing to do with us?" Koshiro said.

"What do you mean by that?" Taichi asked. "Care to explain?"

Koshiro opened his mouth right as the pile of rock suddenly shattered and started raining down on the six of them.

XXXXXXX

Joe's eyes widened with delight when they fell on the small shape that is Yamato's little brother. "Takeru!" he called out as he neared him while carrying Dan the Gomamon in his arms.

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Takeru looked back and grinned. "Joe! It's you!" He quickly stood up. "I'm so relieved I'm not alone here anymore."

Joe crouched down. "It's good to see you too. And don't worry, I've brought a friend with me as well, and he's seen Taichi and the others."

"Really?" Takeru said, his eyes beaming. "That means I'll be able to see my brother again real soon, right?"

"I hope so," Joe answered as he looked back over his shoulders. _Akira and Zamber's still back there..._

Suddenly Dan hopped from Joe's arms and went to where Takeru was standing before. "Hey!" he asked the small, round-ish Digimon around. "Could this be the famed City of Rebirth?"

"Welcome, welcome! Yes, this is File City, File City!" the small Digimon answered him with a coordinated cheer.

"Whoa!" Joe yelled in surprised. He hadn't noticed all these Digimon around him, and his eyes widened. "Please don't eat me. I'm tasteless!"

"Hi there," came a voice from Dan's right. Dan turned to see a small brown-and-cream Digimon. He raised one of his forearms. "I'm a Patamon. My name's Seraqui. And the little kid there's my human partner, Takeru."

"Nice to meet you!" Dan replied, smiling as he shook Seraqui's arm. "I'm Dan, and I'm a Gomamon. The tall wuss with the glasses over there, unfortunately, is **my** partner."

"Hey, I'm not a little kid!" Takeru shouted.

"And I'm not a wuss!" Joe shouted.

Dan and Seraqui looked at each other, and smirked.

XXXXXXX

"I told you you should've gone ahead with Joe!" Zamber scolded Akira as they ran through the mini forest. "I don't want you to get hurt any worse than you already are, you know."

"If you really wanted to do something for me Zamber, you wouldn't leave me behind to fight an enemy alone," Akira replied as he grinned. "We're partners, aren't we? That means we do everything together, you understand?"

Zamber scowled. "Fine."

"Except maybe go to the bathroom together."

"Alright, I get it! No need to add such specific details! Sheesh..."

The duo exited the thick vegetation and ran further, chasing after Joe, running past the enormous pile of rocks covering the path up the mountains to their left.

"Pummel Whack!" Stravel suddenly shouted from behind them, and Akira and Zamber both got hit from the back and fell on the ground.

Zamber quickly stood up and looked back to see Stravel the Ogremon behind them, both of his knuckles raised at them. _He must've fired two Pummel Whacks at the same time, _Zamber thought.

"Uugh..." Akira groaned as he tried to stand up too. "Good thing I didn't land on my bad arm."

"Akira! You okay?" Zamber asked as Stravel neared the two silently, his left arm still raised and his right hand twirling his ever-present bone club.

"Pummel Whack!" Stravel roared as he punched the air with his left fist, from which purple energy blasted out and shot right towards Akira.

"Super Thunder Strike, **double charge!**"

The two attacks collided in midair and exploded. Zamber stood firm in front of Akira. "How dare you!" he shouted at Stravel. "You dare attack an injured foe that's still lying on the ground?"

Stravel snorted. "And you dare turn around and leave me in the middle of a fight? How insolent of you, you little punk!"

Zamber growled. "Lightning Knife!" Three small electrical blades rushed out of his tails and went straight for Stravel's face.

Stravel responded with a Bone Cudgel and knocked down the Lightning Knives. With a loud yell, Zamber dashed to Stravel and then jumped when he was near enough.

"Zamber, wait!" Akira called, but the Elecmon wasn't listening.

"Nine Tails!" he shouted, spinning in the air as he jumped to strike Stravel's face. The Ogremon swiftly raised his left arm and counterattacked. "Pummel Whack!"

The powerful force of the clash pushed Stravel back but it knocked Zamber down. "Hrrgh, I've had enough of you!" the Champion-level Digimon barked as he kicked the Rookie-level Digimon in the face. Zamber flew all the way across the small field and fell to Akira's right arm.

"Zamber!" Akira exclaimed worriedly. "That's enough. Let's just run and we'll give him the slip."

"Lemme go, Akira!" Zamber yelled in rage. "Lemme go and lemme at 'em! I'll kill him! I'll kill him! I swear I'll kill him!"

"Hah! **You?** Kill **me?**" Stravel taunted. "A last-gasp lip-flapping? Pathetic! Can't you see that you're absolutely nothing but a powerless little Rookie?"

Zamber couldn't take it anymore. "YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD! SUPER THUNDER STRIKE!"

Akira couldn't believe it: his own Digimon partner shot a lightning strike back **at him**, just to propel himself forwards. Zamber made a beeline for Stravel's face as he raised his left paw.

"STRAAAVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEL!"

Stravel didn't move one bit. He merely raised his right arm, and inhaled before he grinned maliciously. "BONE CUDGEL!" And he swung his bone club viciously to the side.

"ZAMBER! STOOOOOOOP!"

And Stravel the Ogremon's bone club hit its mark. As a sickening bone-crunching sound came and sparks of blood flew, an intense bright light shone from the battle.

_What the heck? _Akira said in his head. He knew what this light meant, but it was brighter than usual and he had to close his eyes with his hands. He was prepared to see whatever happened on the battle, even if it was the worst case scenario.

But nothing prepared him for what he heard during the flash.

"Elecmon digivolves to... Leomon!"

OOOOOOO

When Akira opened his eyes, he couldn't believe what he saw. He thought he was just seeing things. But after blinking a few times, he was sure the sight before him was real:

There was no more Zamber the Elecmon. What had before been a red-and-blue quadrupedal lightning-shooting creature with nine tails was now a tall, bipedal male humanoid lion monster with pants, several belts, huge clawed paws, and bulging muscles to match his own opponent's.

Speaking of his opponent, against all his sense of awe, Akira shifted his focus to Stravel, and his jaw dropped. A blade, a real metal blade, had been thrust through the Ogremon's chest, and his blood was dripping from the tip. The new Digimon was holding the blade firmly.

Quickly putting two and two together, Akira assumed that with the digivolution, Zamber must've somehow acquired a sword out of nowhere. Akira saw the sword's sheath strapped on the new Digimon's back, specifically on his waist. The point of entry being in his left side, Akira remembered Zamber had his left paw raised when he went for Stavel.

Stravel himself managed to land that last Bone Cudgel directly on what should've been Zamber's body. With the sudden digivolution, the attack instead landed on the new Digimon's face, forcing him to face to his right side at ninety degrees sharp. The position looked painful.

The two Champion-level Digimon stared each other down, with their own melee weapons holding each other in place. But then, Stravel made his move: he raised his free left hand and brought it down on the lion Digimon's face. If the attack hit home, it would almost certainly end with Zamber's head being turned one hundred and eighty degrees, clockwise.

Zamber managed to punch Stravel's left arm out of the way with his own right knuckle. But Stravel immediately followed up with another attack. His special attack.

"Pu-Pu-Pummel Whack!"

Realizing what he had done, Zamber quickly let go of his blade and turned back. He punched the air, much like what Stravel usually does, and from it came an energy blast that, to Akira's surprise, took the form of a male lion's head: "Beast King Fist!"

The two energy-fist attacks collided before the Pummel Whack reached Akira and created a big explosion that knocked Akira back, and he fell.

"Akira!" Zamber called out, his voice markedly deeper, just before Stravel pulled out the sword stuck on his chest and stabbed **Zamber** with it. The Ogremon then kicked Zamber away and stepped back, and then he started twirling his bone club.

Luckily, since Stravel had been stabbed first, his physical strength had been greatly diminished and the blade didn't go all the way through Zamber's body. Zamber immediately pulled the sword out and turned around.

"Bone Cudgel, **rapid spin!**" he shouted as he flung his rapidly-spinning club at Zamber's face. Zamber dodged but the club twirled and twirled like a boomerang before it hit the enormous pile of rocks, destroying one at the base, bringing down the whole pile crashing to the ground.

Zamber ran towards his human partner and picked him up and jumped away from the falling rocks. He heard Akira mutter, "Hey, that's..."

He put Akira down away from the rocks right as there were three burst of light from his right, followed by three voices shouting in unison.

"Agumon digivolves to... Greymon!"

"Biyomon digivolves to... Birdramon!"

"Tentomon digivolves to... Kabuterimon!"

The newly-digivolved Digimon looked to see three other newly-digivolved Champion-level Digimon who immediately moved to destroy some of the crashing rocks. He recognized two of those Digimon. "Valcrist... And Riella, too!"

"Zamber, don't just stand there, help them!" Akira suddenly said, snapping him out. Zamber looked to his left and saw Stravel turning around, ready to leave in the confusion.

"Hey! Zamber called to him. Stravel looked back.

For a moment, they didn't say anything, and only the rumbling of rocks made any noise. Then they nodded to each other.

"This isn't over. Not by a long shot." Zamber said as he sheathed his sword.

Stravel smiled evilly. "Heh. See you again soon." And with that, Stravel the Ogremon left, while Zamber the Leomon dashed to where the rocks were still falling and helped the other Digimon.

"Beast King Fist!" he shouted as he fired another two energy blasts from both his fists at the falling rocks, and together with the powers of a Nova Blast, a Meteor Wing, and what Akira heard to be an Electro Shocker, the rocks were all destroyed and Taichi, Sora, and Koshiro were safely showered with a rain of dust and sand.


	23. The Plans

Chapter 23: The Plans

Somewhere on File Island, a lone figure limped through the darkness, breathing hard.

"Hhh... Hhh... He digivolved right in front of my eyes," the figure muttered to himself. "Talk about miraculous." He had one of his hands pressed firmly on his chest, applying pressure on it.

"Miracles? I think it was a fated occurrence," a voice suddenly responded to the figure.

"Huh? Who's there? Show yourself!" The limping figure looked to his right and left, but there was no one there.

The voice rang again, addressing the wounded Digimon. "Calm yourself down, Digimon Hunter. I am here to talk."

Stravel frowned. "And who exactly is talking to me?"

Slowly, something lean emerged from the shadows, and loomed over the Ogremon. "I witnessed your battle earlier. I must say, I am quite impressed with your... ferocity."

"Yeah? What's it to you?"

"You harbor feelings of vengeance and rage towards that Rookie Digimon who just blasted his way to digivolution. A tough adversary has just gotten stronger for you, it appears."

Stravel looked away. "Ain't none of your business. I'll kill that punk with my own two hands one of these days."

"Can you, now?"

"Of course I can! Don't you dare underestimate me!" Stravel barked to the shadowy figure, who opened its arms in response.

"I was merely asking a question. Contemplating your own strength is always a wise move."

"If you're implying that I need help to defeat Zamber, don't bother! I don't need help and even if I did, I have all the help I'll ever need."

"Very well then." The figure nodded, before continuing. "I, on the other hand, have yet to acquire all the help I need. I am here with a... proposition."

"What kind of proposition?" The Ogremon sharpened his eyes.

"I require your passion for hunting. I am currently preparing for something big, and there are certain... details that may possibly prove to be a hindering factor for me in the future. I want you to get rid of those details."

"You're outta your mind. I don't take orders from nobody."

"You mistake my offer for a command, Digimon Hunter."

"Offer?"

"Yes. Do you recall the human being who is with the Elecmon?"

Stravel growled. "That kid called Akira. What about him?"

"I assume you are aware of the fact that there are other humans aside from him?"

"Yeah, so?"

The shadowy figure smiled evilly. "These humans, these... children. They possess an unusual ability that helps Digimon digivolve beyond what they are naturally capable of. And there are many of them. No matter how strong you are, you cannot hope to outmatch them if they all fight you at the same time."

The Ogremon raised an eyebrow. "What're you getting at?"

"Kill the smallest child and his Digimon partner for me, and I will make sure to separate the Elecmon and his human partner for you. You can then settle your duel without worrying the other children will interfere."

Stravel raised his other eyebrow. "And how're you gonna do that?"

"I have my ways."

"Then why do you need me to do your dirty work for you, huh?"

The shadowy figure neared Stravel. "I have strength, but I have other things to attend to and I cannot be in two places at once. I can kill them all myself but it will cost me valuable time. With your help, my plans will move forward much more smoothly."

The Ogremon stared at the figure's eyes. They were a deep red, and filled to brim with darkness. Evil radiated from them. "So you want me to kill a little kid and a puny Digimon? You don't need me for that; just ask any other Digimon with time to spare and boom, there ya go. Why me?"

"You have an army while others do not. That alone will greatly impact the chances of you successfully carrying out my request."

"So that's it. You want the Goblin Gang to storm those brats and hope they outnumber 'em, is that it?"

"I do not expect them to succeed, merely to stall and distract while **you**, the strongest of them all, finish the job."

Stravel wondered about this for a moment. "Interesting. Might be a good chance to weed out the wimps in my gang, too." He stared hard at the ever-cool eyes of the shadowy figure. "Alright, I accept your proposition!"

The shadowy figure smiled again. "Excellent. Strike File City two nights from now, kill my targets and by the next dawn, you will have your opportunity to kill yours."

Stravel nodded. "Deal. Just two questions though. Firstly, why the smallest one?"

The figure slinked away from the Ogremon, answering as it merged back with the shadows. "You are not perfect, Digimon Hunter. You have weaknesses. As do I."

"So the smallest kid and his Digimon partner's your weakness?"

"Contempating one's strengths and weaknesses is the first step to eliminating them." The figure merged completely with the shadows, becoming nothing but a disembodied voice once again.

"Noted. Second question: just who the devil are you?"

And to that, the voice, as evil as the look in the shadowy figure's eyes, laughed out loud.

XXXXXXX

Joe sat on the iron floors of File City, anxiously awaiting Akira and Zamber's return. Beside him was Dan, while Takeru and his partner Seraqui were playing around with the young residents of File City.

"I'm worried about them, Dan," he said to the Gomamon. "Maybe we shouldn't have left them behind..."

"We had no choice in the matter Joe, so stop your complaining 'cause it ain't gonna help," Dan replied, hiding the fact that he's just as worried.

Joe sighed. "I want to look for them. They should be here by now. But..." He looked at Takeru with concern. Dan caught Joe's look.

"'I can't leave Takeru alone. Takeru's big brother isn't here, so I'm responsible for his safety and wellbeing.' That's what you're thinking, right?"

Joe nodded, and then laid back. "Yeah. I wonder where..."

His words were interrupted by the arrival of several figures. Joe immediately stood up, smiling. "Taichi! Koshiro! Sora!" He ran over to meet them, followed by Dan.

When they came, Takeru stopped what he was doing. "Taichi!"

Taichi saw Joe and Takeru and relief swept over his face. "Hey Joe! Takeru! Nice to see you two!"

"Whoa, what is this place?" Sora asked out loud.

"This is File City, Sora. It's near the exact center of File Island," Reye answered her.

"Welcome, welcome, to the city of rebirth, city of rebirth!" the residents cheered as usual.

"The city of rebirth?" Koshiro asked, puzzled.

"Guys, before we start chatting and asking questions, can we find somewhere to sit down and rest first?" someone in the group asked. It was Akira, and in his hands was his Digimon partner, Zamber the Elecmon. He was breathing hard and definitely out of energy. But he was conscious.

OOOOOOO

In File City was a house made out of wood and straws. The house was small, and it only had one room in it, but as the residents of File City quickly pointed out, it was big enough to fit all of them, the Fresh and In-Training Digimon. Right now, with all of them playing around outside in the city, the house was being used by the six children and their Digimon partners.

Zamber was sleeping on a small but comfortable couch. Pampivi the Punimon, the so-called mayor of the city, suggested to Akira that Zamber rest there. According to him, the couch has magical healing powers. In front of the chair were the others, sitting in a circle.

"Are you guys sure the elders won't mind us staying in their house for a while?" Sora had asked Cindriva the Yokomon before she entered the house.

"The elders are really kind, so don't worry about it! Make yourselves at home!"

Sora smiled. "Okay, if you say so. Thank you, Cindriva." And then she joined the others.

"Alright then,"Taichi said when they had all sat down in the house, "before we talk about what to do now, you should all know that we're not the only ones in this world." He motioned to Akira. "This is Akira. Akira, this is Koshiro," he pointed at the redheaded kid, "and Takeru," he pointed at the youngest boy wearing a green cap. They all nodded and smiled at each other.

"I'm Koshiro Izumi, and this is my partner Reye, a Tentomon," Koshiro said. The black-and-red ladybug Digimon put his hand in front of his body. "Nice to meet you all!"

"And Seraqui's my Digimon partner," Takeru continued, holding up a brown-and-cream colored Digimon. "He's a Patamon."

"Don't do that, Takeru, I can fly by myself you know!" Seraqui complained. "And I can introduce myself."

The others laughed a little, and the other Digimon introduced themselves after that.

"Well, my partner's name is Zamber, the one sleeping over there." Akira looked back at Zamber. "He's an Elecmon now, but... he was something else only a few minutes ago."

"Something else?" Joe asked.

"Yeah. He... digivolved in the middle of the battle, but then he went back to being an Elecmon again," Akira answered.

"We saw it too, but only for a short while," Riella said, and Reye and Valcrist nodded.

"So? Isn't that how it's supposed to be?" Joe asked again. "Digimon digivolve in battles against other Digimon and then they revert back to their original forms, right?"

"Actually, that doesn't normally happen," Reye answered. "Usually when a Digimon digivolves, they stay in their digivolved forms. Reverting back to being a Rookie-level after becoming a Champion is like you becoming a child again after you've grown to become an adult."

"Oh. Well that **does** sound weird."

Dan chimed in. "Do you remember, Joe? I wasn't always a Gomamon. We met when I was still in my In-Training form, Bukamon! And now after I digivolved to a Gomamon, I'm always a Gomamon." And then he added, "When I'm not an Ikkakumon, anyway."

"Oh yeah, the same goes for me," Valcrist said.

"And me." Riella nodded.

"And me." Reye nodded too.

"And him, too," Takeru said, referring to Seraqui with a nod of his own.

"Hey, I can chime in for myself!" Seraqui frowned. Takeru grinned mischievously, and the others chuckled.

"Okay then, so why can't you guys stay in your Champion forms?" This time it was Koshiro who asked. "How does digivolution actually work?"

The Digimon looked at each other, none of them knowing how to answer. Then Reye said, "We're not sure."

Taichi took out his white device. "Zamber suspects that this thing might have something to do with your digivolutions to the Champion-level."

All of the children looked at their respective devices, except Akira.

"Akira? Where's yours?" Seraqui asked.

Akira shook his head. "I don't have one."

"What? You don't?" Takeru was surprised. Akira merely nodded in response.

"I thought all of us who came here had one," Koshiro said, but Akira shrugged.

"Well, I sure don't."

Koshiro put his hand on his chin. "Then maybe Zamber was wrong. Maybe these things don't have anything to do with digivolution."

"Oh yeah, you were about to explain something back there, weren't you Koshiro?" Taichi said to the younger boy.

"Uh-huh. I don't think our partners digivolve when their human partners are in danger."

"What?" Akira asked. "Why do you think that?"

"What are you all talking about?" Joe asked, confused.

Taichi answered him. "You see Joe, when I was still with Akira, Zamber theorized that perhaps these things give off energy that a Digimon needs to digivolve, but it only does so whenever the humans are in danger."

"Which makes sense because Riella did digivolve to Birdramon – her Champion form - for the first time when I was about to be turned into a crisp by these things called Flarerizamon and Darkrizamon," Sora added.

Joe looked at his own device. "Really? But when Dan digivolved to his Champion form last night, I wasn't being attacked or anything."

Koshiro was surprised. "Please, tell us more about that!"

"Well, we **were** being attacked by a big Digimon called a Drimogemon, but the Drimogemon was fighting Zamber the moment when Dan digivolved. I was nowhere near their battle."

"Yeah, because you're such a wuss," Dan commented playfully.

"I'm not a wuss!" Joe was irritated. Dan and several others just chuckled.

Koshiro was deep in thought. "Just like how it was when Reye digivolved to Kabuterimon."

"Okay then, so maybe it **does** work even when the humans aren't in any immediate danger," Valcrist said to Koshiro. "But then how do we activate it?"

"Can we even do that?" Riella asked.

"Maybe it **is** on automatic, but we haven't yet figured out the actual conditions that trigger its activation," Reye said. "Right, Koshiro?"

"That's what I was thinking." He nodded, and then said, "And I have an idea of what the trigger may be."

Taichi leaned in closer. "Well then, stop making us wonder and tell us!"

Koshiro looked at Dan. "Hey Dan, how was the situation when you digivolved yesterday?"

Dan closed his eyes and put his right claw on his cheek. "Well, like Joe said, the Drimogemon was fightin' Zamber at the time, but he was winning the fight. At the time, all I could think of was that I wanted to help Zamber in any way I can. Then I sorta just digivolved."

"Hmm..." Koshiro fell silent for a moment. While waiting for him to speak again, Sora turned to Takeru.

"Has Seraqui digivolved, Takeru?"

Takeru looked at his partner. "He did from In-Training to Rookie, but he hasn't digivolved to Champion yet. It must be because you're still so childish, Seraqui."

"What? You can't blame me!" Seraqui retorted. "I bet it's your device that's broken. You must've broken it when you fell or something."

"See? Blaming me when it's obviously your fault is proof that you're still just a little kid," Takeru said with a smug smile.

"You started it!"

"Only because it's true!"

The two of them looked away from each other while snorting grumpily, while Sora smiled awkwardly at the little argument. Riella walked over to Seraqui.

"There there, don't fight," she said while patting the Patamon gently.

Seraqui looked at the Biyomon and her wings that double as her arms. "Riella, you have big wings. Are you a great flyer?"

Riella smiled and started chatting with Seraqui about how high they can fly, while Sora talked to Takeru.

Meanwhile, Koshiro was staring intently at Reye and Dan, while Taichi, Valcrist, Akira, and Joe were all looking at him. Then his eyes lit up, like he figured out something.

"Maybe... Maybe the devices don't activate when the humans are in danger, but when the Digimon need more power."

"What?" Akira asked.

"Think about it." Koshiro turned to face them. "Everytime our partner Digimon digivolves, it's always when they don't have enough strength. Most of the time it happens in battles against strong opponents because that's the most common situation where you'd need extra power. And of course in such battles we too can get into dangerous situations, so it makes sense if we mistook the trigger for the device to activate is us being in danger. It was the Digimon all along; they're the key."

Joe fixed his glasses. "That's possible."

"And it would also explain why we digivolved again this morning," Reye said, referring to himself, Valcrist and Riella. "In our Rookie forms, we're not strong enough to destroy those large boulders that nearly crushed us. We did need more power back there."

Valcrist nodded. "You're right, Reye."

"So it's some sort of magical device that knows when we need more power?" Dan asked incredulously. "And it can give that power, to boot?"

"It's the best explanation we've got," Taichi said while scratching his nose.

"Assuming they even have anything to do with digivolution in the first place," Koshiro said.

"What? Of course they do!" Valcrist exclaimed. "Didn't you notice the whole light show and all when we digivolve? The devices give them off, so it must be connected to our digivolutions!"

"But then how come Zamber was able to digivolve without Akira owning one?"

Valcrist fell silent. "I... well..."

Taichi looked at Akira. "Yeah, that **is **weird. You guys were fighting off Stravel, right?"

Akira nodded, followed by a gasp from Reye.

"Stravel? Stravel the Ogremon? The Digimon Hunter?" He sounded fearful. "You guys actually know him?"

Taichi looked at Reye. "Yeah. I, Valcrist, Akira and Zamber ran into him two days ago. Why?"

"Stravel's a ferocious Digimon who's notorious for forcefully taking the homes and belongings of other, weaker Digimon. We call him the 'Digimon Hunter'. He has dozens of Goburimon underlings who are able to take down several Champion-level Digimon at a time when they work together. Under Stravel's command, they're scary!"

Joe looked at Dan, who said to him, "See, told ya he's infamously dangerous."

Akira frowned. "Whether or not he has a reputation doesn't bother me. I just want to get even for repeatedly attacking me and Zamber." Then he blinked a few times. "But I must admit that he's pretty powerful, even when on his own. If he does have an army of Goburimon under his control, things would get bad if he decided to bring them all to a fight."

Joe was discouraged. "Big vicious monsters, deadly hunters, bizarre sudden transformations, devices that appeared out of nowhere... Does anyone else think this world is too dangerous?"

The kids looked at him and though none of them commented, they all agreed in their heads. The Digimon looked at each other, not knowing what to say. It was Taichi who broke the silence.

"Why are we here, anyway?"

All of them looked at him. He continued. "I mean, how did we get here? We were at summer camp, but then..."

"There was a blizzard, followed by the aurora..." Sora mumbled.

"And then these things fell out of the sky." Koshiro stared at his device.

Takeru joined in. "And then all of us were sucked up into the light in the sky."

"And the next thing we knew, we were here," Joe finished, adding, "and then we got separated because we got attacked by the Goburimon."

"Except, none of those happened to me," Akira said, prompting the other kids to look at him. "I don't remember how I got here. I don't even remember what I was last doing before I blacked out and woke up in the Digital World."

Koshiro said, "Interesting... that means there might be other people here in the Digital World aside from our group."

"Speaking of which," Joe said, "we're still missing two people, you know."

He looked at Takeru, who nodded sadly. "Big bro's not here..."

"And Mimi, too," Koshiro said.

Everyone fell silent again, and it was Taichi who broke it again. "Well then, I guess it's obvious what we should do next, isn't it? We need to find Yamato and Mimi, as well as see if there are other humans in this world that's not from our group like Akira is."

Joe nodded. "Once all of us are together again, then we can start finding a way back home."

"But how are we going to look for your other friends?" Riella asked. "You'll get lost if you try to comb the entire island."

"Then we need to come up with a plan," Taichi said. "I say we make File City our homebase. Every day two of us go out and look for them while the others try to gather as much information as possible about this world, digivolution, and anything else that might help us get back home. The search team has to be back by nightfall. What do you guys say?"

"I don't know Taichi. It does sound good, but only two people to look for them on this whole island? While that Digimon Hunter Stravel is lurking around?" Joe sounded worried. "Wouldn't it be safer if we all looked for them instead?"

Koshiro held up his hand. "I think Taichi's plan would be the best solution for us right now, but if I may, I suggest that we get a map of the island and search methodically. Every day, the two people search an area close to this city, and if Yamato and Mimi aren't there, we can mark the area from the map."

"That does sound better than just randomly looking," Akira uttered. "Maybe the citizens of File City has a map. We can ask them."

Taichi nodded. "Besides, we have our Digimon partners to help us. And these weird white devices. We just have to be careful not to run into Stravel. He seems like the biggest danger around."

Takeru looked sad. "If that bad hunter is out there, then will my brother be okay?"

Sora patted his head gently. "Don't worry Takeru. You of all people should know that Yamato will get by. He's strong and dependable, remember? And he has his partner with him, too!"

Takeru looked at her and smiled a little. "You're right, Sora."

Joe sighed. Dan looked at his human partner. "Come on, Joe. What further complaint could you possibly have?"

"Well, I guess that's all we can do right now." He shook his head, and then closed his fists firmly in resolution. "Alright then, I agree with the idea!"

The others smiled. "Then it's settled. We rest here today, and gather what we can for tomorrow's search," Taichi said. "Some food and water that the search party can easily carry, and some other stuff. We need to find a map, too."

Everyone in the room nodded, ready to begin their search for Yamato, Mimi, other human beings, and a way home.


End file.
